Time-dependent changes in serum gastrin measurements after parathyroidectomy
Weltman, M.D.; Wing, J.R.; Diamond, T.H.; Botha, J.R.; Myburgh, J.A.
South African Journal of Surgery. Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif Vir Chirurgie 27(1): 8-9
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0038-2361 PMID: 2727822 Document Number: 335264
A prospective study involving 7 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and hypergastrinaemia was conducted to assess the time-dependent change in serum gastrin value before and after parathyroidectomy and to determine at which postoperative stage persistent hypergastrinaemia may be indicative of an associated gastrinoma (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome). Five of the 7 patients had hypergastrinaemia in the early postoperative period. One patient had a strikingly high serum gastrin level pre-operatively (1,500 pg/ml). The mean serum gastrin value declined to within the normal range 6 weeks after parathyroidectomy, except in 1 patient who had a gastrinoma. It is concluded that hypergastrinaemia in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism should only be considered significant if pre-operative gastrin levels are strikingly supranormal and/or levels fail to normalise by the 6th postoperative week.