TOPLINE:

Among patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism, longer disease duration was a key predictor of declining renal function, with each additional year increasing the risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) by 11%. Those with both CKD and chronic hypoparathyroidism also faced an increased burden of other comorbidities, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes (T2D), dyslipidaemia, and cardiovascular diseases.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers in Spain conducted a retrospective longitudinal study of 100 patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism (mean age, 57 years; 85% women) to identify factors affecting kidney function.
• Hypoparathyroidism was diagnosed on the basis of albumin-adjusted serum calcium levels below 8.8 mg/dL and low or undetectable parathyroid hormone levels on two or more tests at least 2 weeks apart and deemed permanent if it persisted for over 12 months.
• Clinical information was collected regarding disease aetiology, duration of hypoparathyroidism, and complications such as urolithiasis, nephrocalcinosis, and hypercalciuria; data on cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, T2D, and dyslipidaemia) and cardiovascular diseases (coronary heart disease and arrhythmias) were also gathered.
• Baseline and most recent serum creatinine levels and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were recorded; CKD was defined as an eGFR below 60 mL/min/1.73 m².
• Patients were followed up from the time of the diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism to the last visit.

TAKEAWAY:

• The eGFR declined significantly between first and final visits (88.4 vs 78 mL/min/1.73 m²; P < .001), and the magnitude of the decline was associated with the duration of disease (beta coefficient, -0.60; P < .001); although none of the patients had CKD during the diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism, 14% had the condition at their last visit.
• The duration of disease was significantly associated with renal dysfunction (odds ratio [OR], 1.11; P = .008), with each additional year of hypoparathyroidism increasing the risk for CKD by 11%.
• Receiver operating characteristic curves evaluated the duration of disease as a marker of CKD, yielding an area under the curve of 0.850 (P < .001). A disease duration of 15.5 years or more provided a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 71.9% for diagnosing CKD.
• Patients with CKD also had higher rates of urolithiasis (P = .003), nephrocalcinosis (P = .008), hypertension (P = .005), T2D (P < .001), dyslipidaemia (P < .001), coronary heart disease (P = .008), and arrhythmia (P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

"The duration of disease appears to be a predictor of the presence of renal dysfunction in patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism. In addition, the coexistence of CVD [cardiovascular disease] factors could result in greater renal damage," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Elena López-Mezquita Torres, University Hospital Clínico San Cecilio, Granada, Spain. It was published online on August 13, 2025, in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

LIMITATIONS:

This study was limited by its observational design, which precluded establishing direct cause and effect relationships. Additionally, the study population was limited to Spanish Caucasian individuals from a specific geographic area, and the absence of a control group restricted the comparative analysis of the findings.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any external funding. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.