Parathyroid carcinoma with intracranial metastasis at diagnosis in a patient with uncontrolled hypercalcemia.

ABSTRACT

Parathyroid carcinoma is an uncommon malignancy and a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. Although this tumor is capable of metastasis, metastatic disease is very uncommon intracranially, with only seven cases reported in the literature. When intracranial metastases occur, they typically present months to years following the diagnosis of the primary tumor with hypercalcemia refractory to medical conservative treatment. Aggressive surgical resection of all metastases is necessary for control of the disease. We report a case of metastatic parathyroid carcinoma with two intracranial metastatic foci (in the left frontal lobe and left cerebellar hemisphere) identified at the time of the primary tumor diagnosis in a patient who presented with symptomatic hypercalcemia.