Effect of gender and geographic location on the expression of primary hyperparathyroidism

Background: The effect of gender on the expression of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is not well characterized. Aim: We therefore evaluated two Caucasian populations (US and Italian) of men and women with PHPT, matched for age and body mass index (BMI), in a cross-sectional retrospective observational study. Methods: We studied 74 US (23 men) and 126 Italian (42 men) patients evaluating main biochemical indices of the disease and bone mineral density (BMD) at the spine and proximal femur. Results: Mean serum calcium levels were higher both in Italian men compared to women (11.7 +/- 1.22 mg/dl and 11.1 +/- 0.83, p<0.01) and in Italian compared to US patients (11.3 +/- 1.01 and 10.8 +/- 0.58, p