Histopathological examination can determine the pathological types of hyperparathyroidism, which is a classical method to differentiate among parathyroid hyperplasia, parathyroid adenoma and parathyroid carcinoma. In recent years, there has been rapid progress in research of immunohistochemical labelling and molecular pathology of parathyroid tumors and hyperplasia, including Cyclin D1, MEN1, HRPT2 and CaSR gene and protein. The development of clinical imaging techniques makes the preoperative diagnosis of parathyroid diseases more accurate, and the parathyroid hormone levels measured during operation may serve as parameters for evaluation of surgical outcomes.