RARE CAUSE OF REFRACTORY TETANY - PSEUDOHYPOPARATHYROIDISM

Gautam Panduranga*, Faraz Farishta and Siddhartha Mullapudi

ABSTRACT

End-organ resistance to PTH is the cause of pseudohypoparathyroidism. A 20 year old woman presented with features of tetany and was found to have severe hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia and elevated PTH (parathyroid hormone) level, suggestive of pseudohypoparathyroidism. She didn’t have features of Albright’s hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO) which is seen only in some subtypes of this disease. Pseudohypoparathyroidism should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of refractory hypocalcemia and tetany.

Keywords: pseudohypoparathroidism, end organ resistance to PTH, hypocalcemia, tetany.