Seven patients under maintenance hemodialysis were performed the subtotal parathyroidectomy from January 1979 to August 1984. Their ages ranged from 8 to 49 years. The primary renal disease included chronic glomerulonephritis in 4 patients, polycystic kidneys in 2 patients and renal aplasia in one patient. We preserved 20 to 180 mg of parathyroid tissue on intact vascular pedicle. All histology of these glands showed parathyroid hyperplasia.
The PTH levels were elevated in all patients preoperatively from 1.1 to 35.4 times the upper limit of normal. Postoperatively, these values dramatically decreased in all but one patient. All of these six patients had a decrease in serum calcium levels as well as resolved clinical symptoms. Roentgenographic improvement also occurred in all of these six patients.