The clinical value of measuring serum immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) for the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism is sometimes debated, and the clinical significance of an elevated postoperative serum iPTH level is unknown. Therefore we studied 141 consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism before and after parathyroidectomy to determine the clinical value of measuring serum iPTH by a mid-region-specific radioimmunoassay. Eighty-eight percent of the patients with primary hyperparathyroidism had an absolute increase in the level of serum iPTH (greater than 40 microliter Eq/ml) before surgery, and the remaining patients had an inappropriately increased level of serum iPTH for the simultaneous serum calcium level. Preoperative serum iPTH level correlated positively with serum calcium level and parathyroid tumor size. Postoperative elevation of serum iPTH level was common (as high as 40%) and was associated with higher preoperative levels of blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, and alkaline phosphatase and larger tumors. An elevated postoperative serum iPTH level without hypercalcemia did not indicate a failed parathyroidectomy, whereas negative parathyroid exploration and postoperative hypercalcemia were the best predictors of persistent hyperparathyroidism. We conclude that preoperative serum iPTH measurement is a very sensitive diagnostic test for primary hyperparathyroidism, but postoperative serum iPTH measurement is not a good predictor for persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism.