Adrenocorticotrophic hormone stimulation in adrenal vein sampling / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Objective:To explore the value of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) stimulation in adrenal vein sampling (AVS) with its effect on the sampling success rate and lateralization determination.Methods:The clinical data of 54 patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) who underwent AVS in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from July 2018 to June 2020 were collected retrospectively. Blood samples from bilateral adrenal veins were collected simultaneously at baseline and after ACTH stimulation. The selectivity index (SI), lateralization index (LI), and relative aldosterone secretion index (RASI) were examined.Results:The concentration of serum cortisol level in left and right adrenal vein and peripheral vein increased significantly after ACTH stimulation ( P<0.001). SI of left adrenal vein increased from 18.00 (2.29, 20.29) to 34.76 (12.10, 46.86) , and the SI of right adrenal vein increased from 26.61(5.24, 31.85) to 28.40 (27.65, 56.05, P<0.001). The bilateral vein sampling success rate increased from 80%(43/54) to 93%(50/54). LI decreased from 2.85(1.78, 6.20) at baseline to 2.45(1.40, 6.10) after ACTH stimulation without significant difference( P>0.05). Eleven patients who identified unilateral secretion at baseline demonstrated bilateral after ACTH stimulation, and the RASI of these patients decreased from 0.50 (0.38, 1.25 ) to 0.37 (0.22, 0.84, P=0.019). Conclusion:ACTH stimulation significantly increased SI and the AVS success rate in patients with PA: ACTH stimulation decreased the relative aldosterone secretion in the dominant side of some patients with aldosterone producing adenoma, thus reduced the proportion of identified unilateral PA.

To compare the role on determining the functional location of primary hyperaldosteronism by multi-slice spiral CT and by adrenal vein sampling / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Objective To compare the role on determining the functional location of primary hyperaldosteronism (PHA)by multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT)and by adrenal vein sampling (AVS),and to discuss the reasonable method to use MSCT and AVS in localization diagnosis of PHA.Methods Clinical data of 78 patients with PHA were analyzed retrospectively.These patients were diagnosed in our department from June 2014 to June 2018.There were 27 male and 51 female patients.With mean age of (47.5 ± 11.2) years old.The mean systolic blood pressure was (190 ± 24)mmHg and mean diastolic blood pressure was (111 ± 16) mmHg.The mean history of hypertension was (6.0 ± 6.0) years.The mean serum potassium was (2.4 ± 0.6) mmol/L.The mean plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) was (415.7 ± 235.4) pg/ml.The mean plasma renin activity (PRA) was (3.2 ± 5.7) ng/(ml · h).The mean aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) was 409.0 ± 434.9.All PHA patients underwent MSCT and AVS,the accuracy on determining the functional location of PHA by MSCT and by AVS were evaluated based on the pathological results and clinical outcomes.The influence of adrenal size and character on the accuracy of determining the functional location of PHA by MSCT were analyzed.Results The rate of accuracy of determining the location of PHA by AVS was higher than that by MSCT[100.0％ (78/78) vs.71.8％ (56/78),P ＜ 0.05].When MSCT indicated:adrenal hyperplasia,adrenal tumor volume less than 1 cm,1 cm ＜ adrenal tumor volume ≤ 2 cm,adrenal tumor volume ＞ 2 cm,the rate of accuracy in localization diagnosis with MSCT was 50.0％ (4/8),81.0％ (17/21),92.9％ (26/28),100.0％ (9/9) respectively.Its trend has statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05).The diagnostic accuracy rate of MSCT for aldosterone adenoma was 79.6％ (43/54),while that of adrenal hyperplasia was 58.3 ％ (7/12).There was no statistical significance between two diagnostic accuracy rate of MSCT(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions AVS is the gold standard for localization diagnosis.When MSCT indicates that there is no obvious abnormality in the adrenal gland,adrenal hyperplasia,small tumor (≤ 2 cm),and bilateral adrenal lesions,AVS should be examined at the same time,which can be considered as the gold standard for localization diagnosis.For isolated adrenal tumor (＞ 2 cm) in PHA,the accuracy of localization diagnosis in MSCT is very high and the AVS is unnecessary.

Gold standard for primary aldosteronism subtype diagnosis: adrenal vein sampling / 中华内分泌外科杂志

Adrenal vein sampling (AVS),as the gold standard of subtype diagnosis for primary aldosteronism,can directly detect the hormone concentration in adrenal vein by adrenal vein cannulation.Adrenal tumor can be categorized into no function adenoma,adrenal carcinoma,aldosterone producing adenoma (APA),cortisol producing adenoma (CPA) and pheochromocytoma.Traditionally,peripheral blood hormone testing and image examination were performed to make functional diagnosis of adrenal tumor,which exhibits low specificity and sensitivity.On the contrary,AVS can help make a distinct lateralization diagnosis according the aldosterone concentration of each gland,even in the condition of bilateral adrenal tumor and early stage tumor,which is difficult to make functional lateralization diagnosis by traditional methods.AVS can be categorized into simultaneous sampiing and sequencing sampling,according to the order of sampling.According to using adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or not,AVS can be categorized into no stimulus sampling and post-stimulus sampling.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone-Independent Cushing Syndrome with Bilateral Cortisol-Secreting Adenomas

A 48-year-old woman was incidentally found to have bilateral adrenal masses, 2.8 cm in diameter on the right, and 2.3 cm and 1.7 cm in diameter on the left, by abdominal computed tomography. The patient had a medical history of hypertension, which was not being controlled by carvedilol, at a dose of 25 mg daily. She presented with signs and symptoms that suggested Cushing Syndrome. We diagnosed adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-independent Cushing Syndrome based on the results of basal and dynamic hormone tests. Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) was performed to localize a functioning adrenal cortical mass. AVS results were consistent with hypersecretion of cortisol from both adrenal glands, with a cortisol lateralization ratio of 1.1. Upon bilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy, bilateral ACTH-independent adrenal adenomas were found. The patient's signs and symptoms of Cushing Syndrome improved after surgery just as the blood pressure was normalized. After surgery, the patient was started on glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid replacement therapy.

Identification of the etiology of primary aldosteronism with adrenal vein sampling in patients with equivocal imaging findings / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

A group of 19 referred hypertensive patients were diagnosed to have primary aldosteronism(PA) with inconclusive computed tomography scan results.Adrenal vein sarmpling (AVS) was performed in all patients.AVS was successful in 16 cases but failed in 3 cases.According to the results of AVS and postoperative pathology,8 cases were diagnosed as aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and unilateral adrenal hyperplasia (UAH),and the other 8 cases were diagnosed as idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA).In conclusion,AVS is one of the most crucial methods in typing diagnosis of PA.