IDIOPATHIC hypoparathyroidism is considered a rare disease.1 In the American literature, 34 cases had been recorded up to February, 1945.2 Lachmann3 reviewed the American and foreign literature, covering the period from 1926 to 1939, and found 48 cases in which the diagnosis of idiopathic hypoparathyroidism seemed justified. He reported an additional 22 cases from the records of various hospitals in Denmark between 1924 and 1939. However, his criteria for the diagnosis seem questionable, since 8 of the 22 patients recovered spontaneously.
The cases enumerated by Winer2 do not include any instances of pseudohypoparathyroidism, which are even rarer. Albright and Reifenstein1 observed four such cases at the Massachusetts General Hospital, three of which had previously been reported.4 Six additional cases have been reported subsequently.5
Some further idea of the rarity of these two conditions may be gained from the following data: Kings County Hospital,