Parathyroid crisis in a 20 year old - an unusual cause of hypercalcaemic crisis

Since the advent of automated serum analysis, patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) are often asymptomatic at presentation or have mild symptoms attributable to the disease. Parathyroid crisis is a rare and potentially fatal complication of PHPT in which patients develop severe hypercalcaemia with signs and symptoms of multiple organ dysfunction. A case of parathyroid crisis in a 20 year old man who presented with brown tumours and renal stones is described.