STUDY ON CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HYPERTENSION IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY ALDOSTERONISM / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

To investigate the clinical characteristics of hypertension in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA), 112 cases of PA confirmed by pathological examination after operation were studied retrospectively. These included 111 cases of PA with unilateral adrenal adenoma and 1 case of bilateral adrenal adenoma. Incidence of hypertension in patients with PA was 100%. 14 3%, 37 5% and 48 2% of patients were at stage 1, 2 and 3 of hypertension, respectively. No relationship between hypertension and the age or duration of hypertension and the size of tumor. Complications of hypertension were found in 31 3% of patients with PA. Stroke was found in 4 5% patients, 3 6% patients with cerebral hemorrhage and 0 9% patients with cerebral infarction. Coronary artery disease as myocardial infarction was found in 1 8% of patients. Proteinuria and renal insufficiency were found in 22 3% of patients and 2 7% of patients, respectively. Complications of hypertension were independent of the age, duration of hypertension, the size of tumor, or preoperative highest systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. 83 9% of patients had taken antihypertensive drugs before operation, and 46 5% of patients still had persistent hypertension after operation. The results suggested that the incidence of hypertension in patients with PA was extremely high, and the majority of patients were suffering from moderate and severe hypertension. Complications of hypertension were common in patients with PA. Hypertension was difficult to control by using antihypertensive drugs before operation, and still persisted after operation in some of the patients with PA.