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Query: UMLS:C0020437 (hypercalcemia)
 10,293 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Over the last 25 years, the perceived clinical spectrum of primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) has changed dramatically from a disorder characterized by severe bone and renal disease to one typically manifested by few or mild symptoms and little evidence of organ damage. Reasons for this change in spectrum include changing demographics (primary HPT is primarily a disease of the middle-aged and elderly), diffusion of medical knowledge leading to a higher index of suspicion, and improved clinical laboratory technology (especially inexpensive and accurate determination of serum calcium and parathyroid hormone). In the first 343 cases of primary HPT seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital, 57% had renal stones, 23% had hyperparathyroid bone disease, and less than 1% had no symptoms. By contrast, studies dating from the availability of automated serum calcium measurement found renal stones and hyperparathyroid bone disease in less than 5% of cases, and about half of cases had few or no symptoms. Most patients with primary HPT today have mild, nonspecific symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, and mental depression, and such signs as arterial hypertension and osteopenia, and detection of their hypercalcemia is generally serendipitous. The mildness and slow progression seen in many cases of primary HPT has resulted in much controversy about appropriate management.
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PMID:Clinical spectrum of primary hyperparathyroidism: evolution with changes in medical practice and technology. 176 71

We compared the presentation features of three series of patients with multiple myeloma diagnosed between 1960 and 1971 (Kyle R, Mayo Clin Proc, 1975, 50, 29, n = 869), 1972 and 1986 (Clinica Medica, University of Pavia, n = 345) and 1987 and 1990 (Cooperative Group for Study and Treatment of Multiple Myeloma, n = 341). In the most recently diagnosed patients, the percentage of those who had symptoms related to multiple myeloma (i.e. any of bone pain, systemic symptoms, disturbances related to hypercalcemia, neurological involvement and hyperviscosity) was reduced (90 vs. 86 vs. 66%) (P less than 0.001), while the percentage of asymptomatic patients diagnosed by chance was increased (not reported, and 14 vs. 34%). In the most recent series, a lower percentage of spontaneous bone pain (68 vs. 60 vs. 37%, P less than 0.001) paralleled a lower incidence of advanced bone disease (osteolyses and pathological fractures, 60 vs. 64 vs. 34%), and renal failure (serum creatinine greater than 1.2 mg/dl) was also less common (56 vs. 44 vs. 33%, P less than 0.01), at least partially due to a decreased incidence of both hypercalcemia (30 vs. 20 vs. 18%, P less than 0.001) and of hyperuricemia (serum uric acid greater than 7 mg/dl, 47 vs. 32 vs. 26%, P less than 0.01). Systemic symptoms (weakness, infections, fever or weight loss) were reported more seldom by recently diagnosed patients, due to a decreased frequency of anaemia (haemoglobin less than 12 g/dl), leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, as well as of the systemic effects of bone pain and of renal insufficiency. These data indicate that multiple myeloma is diagnosed earlier now than in the past, and this must be taken into account when comparing survival data in treated series.
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PMID:Changing clinical presentation of multiple myeloma. 183 56

The case history of a 65 year old female patient has been reported here by the authors. The patient was admitted to the Intensive Therapy Unit owing to her repeated heart pain. Later she was transferred to the Department of Medicine to establish the exact diagnosis. Prepyloric ulcer and hypertension were occurred in her history. The symptoms of her preceding as well as her recent illness were: pain in epigastric field, nausea, adynamia, weakness, polyuria, significant loss of weight, somnolence and the shortened Q--T time in electrocardiogram related to hypercalcemia syndrome. The calcium value in blood proved to be at critically high level from time to time. The possibility of the secondary hypercalcemic state was excluded by sonographic examination and the elevated level of parathormone in blood established the diagnosis of the hyperparathyroidism. The surgical resection of parathyroidic adenoma yielded a complete recovery of the patient. The authors call the attention to the significance of the clinical signs in the diagnosis of the disease.
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PMID:[Hyperparathyroidism simulating severe hypercalcemia syndrome]. 186 40

Hypercalcemia is a potentially lethal endocrine disorder occurring in 10% to 20% of cancer patients at some time during the course of their disease. Clinical manifestations vary in severity, depending on the degree and duration of hypercalcemia, rapidity of onset, patient's age, performance status, sites of metastases, previous antineoplastic therapy, and the presence of hepatic or renal dysfunction. The clinical features of hypercalcemia are protean and affect multiple organ systems, resulting most prominently in neurologic, gastrointestinal, renal, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal morbidity. Recognition of the disorder requires a high index of suspicion because many of its symptoms, such as nausea, anorexia, weakness, fatigue, lethargy, and confusion, are non-specific and, in the patient with a malignancy, can result from other complications of the primary disorder. If identified appropriately as being related to hypercalcemia, such symptomatology is potentially reversible with treatment. Whereas in the ambulatory general medical population the most common cause of hypercalcemia is primary hyperparathyroidism, in cancer patients and hospitalized patients in general, the most common cause is malignancy. Hypercalcemia in cancer patients is, in most cases, due to advanced metastasized disease. Diagnostic tests are useful in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcemia, and such tests, together with an accurate history and careful clinical observation, permit the best therapeutic approach to an individual patient.
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PMID:Clinical manifestations of cancer-related hypercalcemia. 218 49

Carbetimer, a low molecular weight polymer derived from ethylene and maleic anhydride, belongs to a class of chemical compounds different from previously available anticancer agents. It has shown moderate antitumor activity against the Madison 109, Lewis lung, colon 26 and M5076 ovarian carcinomas. In the human tumor stem cell assay, antitumor activity was seen against carcinomas of the breast, ovary, lung, colon and kidney. A total of 26 patients with solid tumors were entered into this trial; carbetimer was given on 5 consecutive days as a 1-2-h intravenous infusion. The dose was escalated from 1.08 to 11 g/m2/day. The drug did not induce the usual side-effects of chemotherapy: leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, alopecia and mucositis were minimal or totally absent. Gastrointestinal toxicity was limited to mild to moderate nausea and vomiting; these were observed at all dose levels and required antimetics in only two patients. The major side-effects of carbetimer consisted of hypercalcemia and neurotoxicity. Hypercalcemia was dose- and treatment duration-dependent. The precise mechanism of hypercalcemia is presently under investigation, but remains unclear. Neurotoxicity was observed only after prolonged therapy; two patients, who received cumulative doses higher than 250 g/m2, developed a peripheral neuropathy with paresthesia, decrease in sensory perception and motor weakness. One patient recovered completely; the other patient improved slightly before developing fatal brain metastases. Two patients with malignant melanoma exhibited major antitumor response; both were previously treated; after excellent partial responses to carbetimer, both were operated on and one is presently disease-free 2 1/2 years after completion of therapy with carbetimer. In conclusion, carbetimer is a new compound with an unusual pattern of side-effects and interesting antitumor activity against malignant melanoma. Its antitumor activity is presently being investigated in phase II trials.
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PMID:Phase I clinical trial with carbetimer. 253 92

The schema in Table 1 illustrates the inter-relationship between the major fluid and electrolyte disturbances with their primary site of involvement, that is, the CNS or peripheral nervous system (PNS), their primary effect (nervous system depression or irritability), and the major symptom complex associated with these sites and mechanisms (obtundation, seizures, muscle weakness, and tetany). As can be seen, a pattern emerges. Disorders of sodium and osmolality, whether hypernatremia (hyperNa), hyponatremia (hypoNa), hyperosmolality (hyperOsm), or hypo-osmolality (hypoOsm), all produce CNS depression with encephalopathy as the major clinical manifestation. Disorders of potassium, whether hyperkalemia (hyperK) or hypokalemia (hypoK), produce PNS depression with muscle weakness as the major clinical manifestation. On the other hand, disorders of magnesium and calcemia produce both CNS and PNS manifestations. Hypercalcemia (hyperCa) and hypermagnesemia (hyperMg) produce CNS and PNS depression with encephalopathy and muscle weakness, respectively, being the major clinical manifestations. Hypocalcemia (hypoCa) and hypomagnesemia (hypoMg) produce CNS and PNS irritability with seizures and tetany, respectively, being the major clinical manifestations.
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PMID:Neurologic manifestations of fluid and electrolyte disturbances. 267 34

Hypercalcemia is a common life-threatening complication that often produces discomfort for the oncology patient. Prompt detection of this complication is imperative to prevent death and reverse uncomfortable symptoms. Laboratory analysis of a serum blood sample is presently the only means available to quantify hypercalcemia. A descriptive study was undertaken to determine what symptoms prompt oncology patients and their families to seek treatment of the hypercalcemia and to identify symptoms commonly associated with mild, moderate, and severe hypercalcemia. Seven hypercalcemic oncology patients were interviewed and observed on admission and during hospitalization for treatment of hypercalcemia. An identified significant other was also interviewed on admission and throughout the hospitalization to provide the researcher with information about subtle behavioral changes. A check-list of symptoms identified in the literature as being associated with hypercalcemia was completed. Symptoms that commonly led to admission included constipation, confusion, weakness, and anorexia. The most evident changes in a particular symptom within a given degree of hypercalcemia occurred in the mental status symptoms. The resulting data have implications for nurses in terms of patient assessment and of teaching patient and family about signs and symptoms of hypercalcemia that are observable at home.
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PMID:Signs and symptoms associated with malignancy-induced hypercalcemia. 274 97

Self-rated psychiatric symptoms were investigated in 30 patients referred for surgery because of primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) (serum calcium, 2.87 +/- 0.21 mmol/L) in 38 subjects detected in a health screening, with 15 years of mild hypercalcemia and probable HPT (serum calcium, 2.66 +/- 0.09 mmol/L), and in 38 normocalcemic control subjects. The psychiatric symptomatology was evaluated by use of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-56), a self-rating symptom scale. The patients with verified HPT had the highest mean HSCL score, 89.1 +/- 20.1 before surgery, compared with 76.6 +/- 17.0 (p less than 0.01) in the health survey hypercalcemic patients and 73.8 +/- 16.0 (p less than 0.001) in the controls. The factors for anxiety, depression, and cognitive symptoms were the most pronounced in the HPT patients and were also increased among the mildly hypercalcemic persons of the health survey, compared with the controls. Somatic symptoms such as headache, back pain, chest pain, and weakness were equally common in HPT and in the controls, and measurements of isometric muscle strength of knee extension did not demonstrate reduction of muscle strength in the health survey hypercalcemic patients. Follow-up of the HPT patients 1 year after parathyroid surgery revealed a marked improvement in mental health (HSCL score 73.2 +/- 13.7, p less than 0.001). In the health survey hypercalcemic patients, neither the psychiatric symptomatology nor the muscle strength were influenced by 6 months of oral vitamin D therapy (alphacalcidol). The results demonstrate that psychiatric symptoms are experienced frequently by patients with HPT and minimum to moderate increases in the serum calcium level and that these disturbances are reversed by parathyroid surgery.
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PMID:Self-rated psychiatric symptoms in patients operated on because of primary hyperparathyroidism and in patients with long-standing mild hypercalcemia. 291 6

A 39-year-old white woman with breast cancer, metastatic to her skeleton, developed low back and left lower extremity pain and lower extremity weakness. A bone scan evidenced increased radioisotope activity in her lumbar spine and a computed tomography (CT) scan showed a lesion of the L4 vertebra. Because of myelographic findings of a extradural defect at the L4-5 disc space and the possibility of a herniated disc causing the patient's pain and neurologic deficit in her lower extremities, the patient underwent surgery and a large herniated L4-5 disc was removed. As a consequence, the patient experienced relief of the lower extremity pain and return of strength in her lower extremities. She died a considerable time later from refractory hypercalcemia.
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PMID:Breast cancer with osseous metastasis and herniated lumbar disc. A cautionary tale. 299 46

The authors report two cases of hyperparathyroidism presenting mainly with muscular weakness. In the first case, a 74 year old woman had become completely bed-ridden and muscular recovery was obtained in 18 months. In the second case, a 24 year old sportsman had to stop all competition. Hypercalcaemia was suspected after finding radiological muscular calcification; the patient was able to start his sporting activities again two months after excision of the adenoma. After a review of the literature the authors discuss the principal physiopathogenic mechanisms; a direct action of parathormone is the probable cause but this has not been proved. Muscular forms of hyperparathyroidism are rare but this "pseudo-myopathic" presentation justifies the systematic exclusion of hyperparathyroidism in all cases of unexplained muscle weakness.
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PMID:[Neuromuscular forms of hyperparathyroidism. Apropos of 2 cases]. 319 71


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