title: Closed mediastinal exploration in patients with persistent hyperparathyroidism.
abstract: Described are two patients with persistent hyperparathyroidism after unsuccessful neck explorations. Both had deep mediastinal parathyroid tumors located within the thymus gland. Formerly it had been the practice of the authors to perform a median sternotomy for the removal of such tumors. In the present cases, however, the neck was re-explored through a cervical incision and the entire thymus gland then was removed by the technique of "closed mediastinal thymectomy." An enlarged parathyroid gland was found embedded in the resected parenchyma of the thymus gland in each patient, and both were cured by the operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002828:Choristoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006961:Hyperparathyroidism / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000601:surgery*; D008722:Methods; D010280:Parathyroid Glands / Q000473:pathology; D012086:Reoperation; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery