Parathyroid Adenoma and Gastric Acid Secretion

Abstract

In 13 patients in whom a histologically verified parathyroid adenoma was removed, a pre- and postoperative investigation of gastric acid secretion was carried out. The secretion examined was collected during a basal period of 4 hours, which was followed by continuous intravenous histamine stimulation for 2 hours. No convincing general changes could be demonstrated either in the basal or the histamine-stimulated secretion. However. 2 patients showed a distinct fall in the basal secretion. The serum gastrin level was determined in one of these patients, and it also showed a distinct fall, although radioimmunoassay a year after the operation showed the gastrin values to be still elevated. When compared with recently published investigations concerning the sensitivity of gastrin-producing tumours to calcium, these results may be explained by assuming that a relationship between the hyperparathyroid condition and an increased acid secretion occurs only in patients with a ‘multiple endocrine syndrome’, i.e. in patients with a parathyroid adenoma as well as a gastrin-producing tumour.