Skip to main content
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine logoLink to Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
. 1995 Dec;88(12):690–691. doi: 10.1177/014107689508801210

Unrecognized hypocalcaemia diagnosed 36 years after thyroidectomy.

R J Bellamy 1, P Kendall-Taylor 1
PMCID: PMC1295412  PMID: 8786591

Abstract

Hypoparathyroidism can present many years after thyroidectomy and symptoms may be non-specific. Hypocalcaemia may cause a variety of physical and mental symptoms and the diagnosis is easily overlooked with serious and potentially fatal consequences. Patients with vague symptoms should always be asked about previous thyroid surgery and serum calcium should be measured.

Full text

PDF
690

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Attie J. N., Moskowitz G. W., Margouleff D., Levy L. M. Feasibility of total thyroidectomy in the treatment of thyroid carcinoma: postoperative radioactive iodine evaluation of 140 cases. Am J Surg. 1979 Oct;138(4):555–560. doi: 10.1016/0002-9610(79)90418-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cox R. E. Hypoparathyroidism: an unusual cause of seizures. Ann Emerg Med. 1983 May;12(5):314–315. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(83)80517-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Halperin I., Nubiola A., Vendrell J., Vilardell E. Late-onset hypocalcemia appearing years after thyroid surgery. J Endocrinol Invest. 1989 Jun;12(6):419–420. doi: 10.1007/BF03350718. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Juan D. Hypocalcemia. Differential diagnosis and mechanisms. Arch Intern Med. 1979 Oct;139(10):1166–1171. doi: 10.1001/archinte.139.10.1166. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KRANE S. M. Selected features of the clinical course of hypoparathyroidism. JAMA. 1961 Nov 4;178:472–475. doi: 10.1001/jama.1961.03040440024005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Snowdon J. A., Macfie A. C., Pearce J. B. Hypocalcaemic myopathy with paranoid psychosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1976 Jan;39(1):48–52. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.39.1.48. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine are provided here courtesy of Royal Society of Medicine Press

RESOURCES