Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is characterized by symptoms caused by hypertension and hypokalemia. Some cardiovascular events are found to be more common due to the additional negative effect of aldosterone. The aim of the study was to analyse clinical characteristics of the PA due to adenoma (APA) and to compare the frequency of cardiovascular diseases with those found in adrenal Cushing’ syndrome (CS) and adrenal adenoma associated with essential hypertension (A+HT). Material and method: The study group of PA included 40 patients (25 females, 15 males). The study groups (CS n=20; A+HT n=40) did not differ by age and sex.

Results: The mean systolic and diastolic arterial pressures were significantly higher in PA group than A+HT group (P=0.004; P=0.002; respectively) and all had hypokalaemia. PA was more common in younger women (20-40 years 24% vs 6.7%) and older men (>60 years 8% vs 60%). The most common symptoms of PA were evenly distributed: muscle weakness, pain, cramps, tingling (45%), headache, brain fog (32.5%) and fatigue (20%). Patients younger than 50 years suffered from muscle paresis (10%) and EPH-gestosis (7.5%). Only patients older than 50 years suffered from cardiovascular complications: atrial fibrillation 15%, cerebrovascular insult 3%, myocardial infarction 7.5%, angina pectoris 6%, chronic heart failure 7.5%, and aortic aneurysm 5%. Chronic renal failure was found in 20% of patients. There were no significant differences in the presence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events between groups.

Conclusion: We found a higher tendency for cardiovascular, renal and cerebrovascular events in PA that was not significant.