Adrenal venous sampling: the learning curve of a single interventionalist with 282 consecutive procedures.

PURPOSE: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is a common cause of secondary hypertension. Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the gold standard for assessing laterality of PA, which is of paramount importance to decide adequate treatment. AVS is a technically complicated procedure with success rates ranging between 30% and 96%. The aim of this study was to investigate the success rate of AVS over time, performed by a single interventionalist. METHODS: This was a retrospective study based on consecutive AVS procedures performed by a single operator between September 2005 and June 2016. Data on serum concentrations of aldosterone and cortisol from right and left adrenal vein, inferior vena cava, and peripheral vein were collected and selectivity index (SI) calculated. Successful AVS was defined as SI > 5. RESULTS: In total, 282 AVS procedures were performed on 269 patients, 168 men (62%) and 101 women (38%), with a mean age of 55±11 years (range, 26-78 years). Out of 282 AVS procedures, 259 were successful, giving an overall success rate of 92%. The most common reason for failure was inability to localize the right adrenal vein (n=16; 76%). The success rates were 63%, 82%, and 94% during the first, second, and third years, respectively. During the last 8 years the success rate was 95%, and on average 27 procedures were performed annually. CONCLUSION: Satisfactory AVS success rate was achieved after approximately 36 procedures and satisfactory success rate was maintained by performing approximately 27 procedures annually. AVS should be limited to few operators that perform sufficiently large number of procedures to achieve, and maintain, satisfactory AVS success rate.

The impact of adjustments to the diagnostic criteria for biochemical remission in surgically treated patients with acromegaly.

BACKGROUND: The suggested criteria for biochemical remission in patients treated for acromegaly were recently modified. The aim of this project was to study to what extent this modification influences remission rates. DESIGN, PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 55 consecutive patients [29 men; median age 47years (interquartile range 38-68)] diagnosed with acromegaly between 2003 and 2014. After treatment serum IGF-I and/or GH was measured according to a standardized protocol. The biochemical remission status was defined according to the clinical guidelines from 2010 and2014. RESULTS: Out of 55 patients, 44 patients were primarily operated. Of these, 33 (75%) were evaluated 3-12months postoperatively by measuring serum IGF-I and GH during an oral glucose tolerance test. According to the 2010 guidelines, 11 patients (33%) were in biochemical remission, 15 patients (46%) were not and 7 patients (21%) had discordant results (normal IGF-I and high GH or vice versa). Applying the 2014 guidelines in the same group, 16 patients (49%) were in biochemical remission, 7 patients (21%) were not and 10 patients (30%) had discordant results. Thus, by using the most recent criteria for biochemical control, more patients were considered to be in remission, or with discordant results, and fewer patients not in remission (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: An apparently minor adjustment of the criteria for biochemical control has a significant impact on remission status in patients treated for acromegaly, eventually affecting follow-up and treatment strategies.