Retrospective Analysis Of 52 Patients With Primary Aldosteronism

Objects: To approach the diagnosis and the treatments of primary aldosteronism (PA).Methods: 52 PA patients, which included 19 males and 33 females and were pathology-verified on urinary surgery by our hospital, have been reviewed from the year 2001 to 2006. Information of 52 PA patients on their characteristic of clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, imaging tests, results of clinical trials, operations, pathological results and drug treatments have been analysised and concluded. Four patients with hyperplasic type PA have been followed up for 15 to 42 months.Results: All patients were treated by surgical operation including 45 patients with aldosterone-producingadenomas (APA) and 7 patients with idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA). After the operations, 27 APA patients had been cured, 18 APA patients had a slightly high blood pressure and 6 IHA patients still need a drug treatment of antisterone.Brief summary: PA is chiefly diagnosed by the antisterone test, the level of plasma aldosterone and the examination of renin activity. The position test and the imageological examinations are the major ways to identify PAP and IHA. Drugs treatment is primary for IHA patients, but surgical operations should be considered if drugs treatment is not effective or they were nodositic hyperplasy of IHA, especially unilateral one. It is important for PA patients to be diagnosised and treated early, because long-term secondum high blood pressure and high level of plasma aldosterone are vital for pathological damage on cardiac-cerebral vessels and kidneys. APA patients did not have an ideal blood pressure after surgical operations may relate to damages of the target organs.