Advances in Medical Treatment of Primary Aldosteronism

Primary aldosteronism(PA)is the most common form of secondary hypertension,with its main manifestations including hypertension and hypokalemia.Early identification of PA is extremely important as PA patients can easily develop cardiovascular complications such as atrial fibrillation,stroke,and myocardial infarction.The past decade has witnessed the rapid advances in the genetics of PA,which has shed new light on PA treatment.While surgery is the first choice for unilateral diseases,bilateral lesions can be treated with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists(MRAs).The next-generation non-steroidal MRAs are under investigations.New medications including calcium channel blockers,macrophage antibiotics,and aldosterone synthase inhibitors have provided a new perspective for the medical treatment of PA.

Primary aldosteronism due to bilateral micronodular hyperplasia and concomitant subclinical Cushing’s syndrome:A case report

BACKGROUND Adrenal incidentaloma(AI)has been frequently encountered in the clinical setting.It has been shown that primary aldosteronism(PA)or subclinical Cushing’s syndrome(SCS)are the representative causative diseases of AI.However,the coexistence of PA and SCS has been reportedly observed.Recently,we encountered a case of AI,in which PA and SCS coexisted,confirmed by histopathological examinations after a laparoscopic adrenalectomy.We believe that there were some clinical implications in the diagnosis of the present case.CASE SUMMARY A 58-year-old man presented with lower right abdominal pain with a blood pressure of 170/100 mmHg.A subsequent computed tomography scan revealed right ureterolithiasis,which was the cause of right abdominal pain,and right AI measuring 22 mm×25 mm.After the disappearance of right abdominal pain,subsequent endocrinological examinations were performed.Aldosterone-related evaluations,including adrenal venous sampling,revealed the presence of bilateral PA.In addition,several cortisol-related evaluations showed the presence of SCS on the right adrenal adenoma.A laparoscopic right adrenalectomy was then performed.The histopathological examination of the resected right adrenal revealed the presence of a cortisol-producing adenoma,while CYP11B2 immunoreactivity was absent in this adenoma.However,in the adjacent nonneoplastic adrenal,multiple CYP11B2-positive adrenocortical micronodules were detected,showing the presence of aldosterone-producing adrenocortical micronodules.CONCLUSION Careful clinical and pathological examination should be performed when a patient harboring AI presents with concomitant SCS and PA.

Comparison of Cardiac Structural Improvement in Patients with Primary Aldosteronism after Surgical Therapy and Drug Therapy: A Meta-Analysis

Background: At present, in clinical practice, patients with primary hyperaldosteronism (PA) are mainly treated by surgery or medical drugs (spironolactone/spironolactone, epridone, etc.). Some studies show that the left ventricular hypertrophy of patients can be significantly improved after treatment. However, at present, the relevant research is very limited, and there is still controversy on the improvement of cardiac structure and function between the two treatment methods. No reliable conclusions have been drawn. Objective: We conducted this meta-analysis to compare the improvement of cardiac structure of patients after surgical treatment and drug treatment, so as to clarify the efficacy of surgical treatment and drug treatment for PA patients. Methods: In order to examine the cardiac color ultrasound data of PA patients receiving surgical treatment and drug therapy (spironolactone, antisterone), randomized or observational studies were searched through Pubmed, Cochrane Library, and Embase. Meta-analysis was then carried out on the comprehensive and individual outcomes. The ROINBS-I scale is utilized to assess the offset risk of study inclusion. Outcomes: A total of nine studies involving 799 patients with PA into meta analysis, according to the results of the surgery in the treatment of patients with PA, left ventricular mass index (LVMI) changes in value (drop range) is significantly higher than drug therapy (Mean difference IV: —2.32, P In 6 studies, after surgical treatment of interventricular septal thickness (IVSD), changes in value (drop range) are also higher than drug therapy (Mean difference IV: —0.35, P In 2 studies, the surgical treatment of plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) drop degree is superior to drug therapy (Mean difference IV: —12.63, P < 0.05), and blood pressure to improve the degree of surgery and drug treatment has no obvious difference. Conclusions: This meta-analysis result confirmed that after medical and surgical treatment of PA can obviously improve the patient’s blood pressure, and no difference between the two treatments. But for the heart structure improvement, including left ventricular hypertrophy and interventricular septum thickness, surgical treatment effect is significantly better than the medicine treatment, so the adrenalectomy can be used as unilateral PA optimal choice of treatment.

Diagnostic value of aldosterone to renin ratio calculated by plasma renin activity or plasma renin concentration in primary aldosteronism: a meta-analysis

Background:Since the diagnostic value of aldosterone to renin ratio(ARR)calculated by plasma renin concentration(PRC)or plasma renin activity(PRA)is still inconclusive,we conducted a meta-analysis by systematically reviewing relevant literature to explore the difference in the diagnostic efficacy of ARR calculated by PRC or PRA,so as to provide guidance for clinical diagnosis.Methods:We searched PubMed,Embase,and Cochrane Library from the establishment of the database to March 2021.We included studies that report the true positive,false positive,true negative,and false negative values for the diagnosis of primary aldosteronism,and we excluded duplicate publications,research without full text,incomplete information,or inability to conduct data extraction,animal experiments,reviews,and systematic reviews.STATA 15.1 was used to analyze the data.Results:The pooled results showed that ARR(plasma aldosterone concentration[PAC]/PRC)had a sensitivity of 0.82(95%confidence interval[CI]:0.78-0.86),a specificity of 0.94(95%CI:0.92-0.95),a positive-likelihood ratio(LR)of 12.77(95%CI:7.04-23.73),a negative LR of 0.11(95%CI:0.07-0.17),and symmetric area under the curve(SAUC)of 0.982,respectively.Furthermore,the diagnostic odds ratio(DOR)of ARR(PAC/PRC)was 180.21.Additionally,the pooled results showed that ARR(PAC/PRA)had a sensitivity of 0.91(95%CI:0.86-0.95),a specificity of 0.91(95%CI:0.90-0.93),a positive LR of 7.30(95%CI:2.99-17.99),a negative LR of 0.10(95%CI:0.04-0.26),and SAUC of 0.976,respectively.The DOR of ARR(PAC/PRA)was 155.52.Additionally,we conducted a subgroup analysis for the different thresholds(<35 or≥35)of PAC/PRC.The results showed that the DOR of the cut-off≥35 groups was higher than the cut-off<35 groups(DOR=340.15,95%CI:38.32-3019.66;DOR=116.40,95%CI=23.28-581.92).Conclusions:The research results suggest that the determination of ARR(PAC/PRC)and ARR(PAC/PRA)was all effective screening tools for PA.The diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic value of ARR(PAC/PRC)are higher than ARR(PAC/PRA).In addition,within a certain range,the higher the threshold,the better the diagnostic value.

Diagnostic evaluation of plasma aldosterone concentration to plasma renin activity ratio in primary aldosteronism

Using the plasma aldosterone concentration to plasma renin activity ratio(PAC/PRA ratio)as the screening test of choice for primary aldosteronism in hypertensive patients,we studied the clinical character-istics and the diagnostic value of PAC/PRA ratio in primary aldosteronism.The plasma aldosterone concen-tration(PAC)and plasma renin activity(PRA)levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in 902 hypertensive patients from out-patient clinics or hospitals.One hundred and twenty-six suspected primary aldosteronism patients whose PAC/PRA ratio was>25 ng/dL/ng/mL/hr had a lamellar computed tomography(CT)scan in the adrenal gland and follow-up visits.The proportion of primary aldosteronism in hypertensive patients was 14%(126/902).There were 54 patients with unilateral or bilateral hyperplasia and 25 patients with adenoma according to the CT scan.39%(49/126)of the patients with primary aldosteronism had hypokalemia.Twenty-five patients received surgical treatment.The efficacy and cure rates were 100%(25/25)and 48%(12/25),respect-ively.The effective rate of aldactone and the single-drug cure rate were 89%(48/54)and 24%(13/54),respectively.Primary aldosteronism affects over 10%of hypertensive patients in China.The PAC/PRA ratio can be considered as a routine screening test in hypertensives,especially resistant hypertensive patients and a high PAC/PRA ratio is an invaluable index in primary aldosteronism diagnosis.