Endocrine Abstracts

Excessive autonomous aldosterone secretion by the adrenal gland, so called primary aldosteronism (PA), causes drug-resistant and often life threatening arterial hypertension accompanied by severe hypokalemia. Long-term consequences include increased risk for stroke, myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation. PA is present in up to ~10% in referred patients and 7% in primary care, but as high as 20% in patients with resistant hypertension. The early detection of PA has clea...

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Primary aldosteronism is the most common form of secondary hypertension. The detection of primary aldosteronism is of particular importance, because it provides an opportunity for a targeted treatment (surgical for unilateral forms and medical with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists for bilateral forms). PA diagnosis comprises screening, confirmation testing and subtype diagnosis.Guidelines recommend that all patients for whom the surgical treatment ...