Reply To: Echogenic parathyroid glands?

I can’t say that I see these daily, and we do a lot of thyroid studies.  In my experience, we see these occasionally. It seems like everyone agrees that these should be ignored as “normal”.  It’s hard to argue with PTH confirmation that the authors of the paper indicate. Having said that, it seems reasonable that SOME of these are normal parathyroid glands and OTHERS are not (but not pathologic).

Jill, you say that they “usually” don’t come back as parathyroid, but it must be difficult if not impossible to know if what your ENT surgeons have taken out are actually the observation made on ultrasound given the small size.  Not that it matters, I think, but it might be interesting to get the take of your parathyroid conference colleagues, so do share when you get some feedback.