A Prospective Cohort Study to Describe the Evolution of Persistent Hyperparathyroidism in Kidney Transplant Recipients

The purpose of this study is to see if Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is common in people who receive a kidney transplant. Patients with HPT often have high parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and may have large parathyroid glands in the neck. Patients with HPT can develop bone disease (osteodystrophy). This bone disease can cause bone pain, fractures, and poor formation of red blood cells. Other problems from HPT may include increases in blood levels of calcium (hypercalcemia) and low blood levels of phosphorus (hypophosphatemia). The high calcium levels may cause calcium to deposit in body tissues. Calcium deposits can cause arthritis (joint pain and swelling), muscle inflammation, itching, gangrene (death of soft tissue), heart and lung problems, or kidney transplant dysfunction (worsening of kidney transplant function). The purpose of this research study is to better understand the evolution of Hpt in people during the first 12 months after receiving a kidney transplant.