Table 3. Comparisons between patients with 3 and 4 parathyroid glands with no accidental resection.

Characteristics	3 parathyroid glands (N=182)	4 parathyroid glands (N=1,148)	P
Age, years	41.01±12.35	41.39±11.41	0.677
Sex (male)	50	303	0.759
BMI	23.00±3.55	23.16±3.99	0.580
NG	93	577	0.834
HD	64/182 (35.2%)	254/1,148 (22.1%)	<0.001*
Hypertension	21	83	0.044*
Diabetes	4	36	0.491
Hypothyroidism	3	21	0.865
Hyperthyroidism	5	24	0.772
Tumor size (mm)	13.80±7.60	14.09±9.05	0.698
Multifocality	51	278	0.251
Capsule invasion	84	464	0.144
TNM stage
Tx/T1/T2/T3/T4	1/91/7/78/5	7/624/75/392/49	0.155
Nx/N0/N1a/N1b	1/62/69/50	8/477/387/275	0.281
Hypoparathyroidism
Transient	96/182 (52.7%)	602/1,148 (52.4%)	0.938
Permanent	3/182 (1.6%)	17/1,148 (1.5%)	1.000
PTH (pg/mL)
Preoperative	43.29±9.90	45.00±9.81	0.034*
1-day	15.57±9.72	16.20±10.35	0.439
1-month	29.43±11.16	34.83±13.86	<0.001*
3-month	32.76±13.05	37.89±14.40	0.009*
6-month	33.66±12.51	38.43±13.23	0.009*
12-month	35.64±14.31	38.61±13.50	0.164
24-month	32.49±11.61	35.91±12.24	0.217
PTH <14 pg/mL
1-day	95 (52.5%)	599 (53.3%)	0.831
1-month	10 (6.4%)	43 (4.1%)	0.199
3-month	3 (5.1%)	15 (2.9%)	0.614
6-month	2 (3.8%)	12 (2.3%)	1.000
12-month	2 (4.3%)	7 (1.9%)	0.592
24-month	1 (4.5%)	5 (3.2%)	1.000
Ca (mg/dL)
Preoperative	9.32±0.44	9.40±1.32	0.175
1-month	9.24±0.52	9.28±0.52	0.516
3-month	8.96±0.60	9.08±0.56	0.092
6-month	2.25±0.14	9.08±0.56	0.100
12-month	2.26±0.13	9.12±0.52	0.099
24-month	9.16±0.48	9.08±0.56	0.322
Ca <8.5 mg/dL
1-month	10 (6.2%)	62 (5.9%)	0.872
3-month	18 (16.5%)	77 (10.1%)	0.045*
6-month	12 (11.8%)	48 (7.0%)	0.094
12-month	9 (10.6%)	30 (6.1%)	0.128
24-month	4 (9.3%)	16 (7.8%)	0.977

*, significantly statistical differences. BMI, body mass index; HD, Hashimoto’s disease; NG, nodular goiter; TNM, tumor node metastasis; PTH, parathyroid hormone; Ca, calcium.