Fine-Needle Pricking Test of the Parathyroid Gland during Thyroid Surgery in Predicting Parathyroid Function

Table 3

Influence of parathyroid glands preserved in situ with excellent vascularity on the risk of hypocalcemia and hypoparathyroidism, and serum calcium and iPTH levels after total thyroidectomy plus central neck dissection.

	PGPIEV score
	0 (n = 27)	1 (n = 25)	2 (n = 56)	3 (n = 184)	4 (n = 316)
Age						0.298
≤45	14 (3.9)	13 (3.7)	39 (11.0)	101 (28.5)	188 (53.0)
>45	13 (5.1)	12 (4.7)	17 (6.7)	83 (32.8)	128 (50.6)
Sex ratio (M : F)	6 : 21	6 : 19	11 : 45	50 : 134	89 : 227	0.706
Hypocalcemia^† (n = 97)	21 (77.8)	15 (60.0)	15 (26.8)	18 (9.8)	31 (9.8)	<0.001
Hypoparathyroidism^‡ (n = 12)	12 (44.4)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	<0.001
Calcium on POD 1 (mg/dl)	2.01 (0.16)	2.07 (0.12)	2.10 (0.10)	2.16 (0.10)	2.17 (0.11)	<0.001^#
iPTH on POD 1 (ng/l)	14.58 (4.53)	23.09 (5.09)	31.73 (6.59)	34.70 (9.32)	45.22 (14.91)	<0.001^§
Proportion of iPTH on POD 1 of the initial value (before operation)	42.7 (16.7)	56.5 (11.5)	71.6 (17.7)	90.2 (23.2)	114.9 (27.5)	<0.001^§

Values in parentheses are percentages unless indicated otherwise; values are mean (s.d.). ^†Serum calcium concentration less than 8.0 mg/dl; ^‡intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level below 15 ng/l; PGPIEV, parathyroid glands preserved in situ with excellent vascularity determined by the fine-needle pricking test. χ² test, except ^#one-way ANOVA, ^§Kruskal–Wallis test.