Unexpected Serum Parathyroid Hormone Profiles in Some Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism, Phil-

Background: Third-generation parathyroid hormone (PTH) assays have been reported to measure only intact PTH(1–84), in contrast to second-generation assays, which also detect PTH(7–84) fragments. We obtained higher PTH measurements with third- than with second-generation PTH assays in patients with either severe primary hyperparathyroidism or parathyroid carcinoma. Methods: We analyzed biological data [second- and third-generation PTH assays, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD), calcium, and phosphate concentrations] obtained before and after surgery for 2 groups of patients selected from a large series of consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT): 7 female patients with surgically and histologically confirmed PHPT (group 1) and a matched group (group 2)