Management of Primary Aldosteronism: Case Detection, Diagnosis, and Treatment

We recommend case detection of primary aldosteronism (PA) in patients with sustained blood pressure (BP) above 150/100 mm Hg on each of three measurements obtained on different days, with hypertension (BP >140/90 mm Hg) resistant to three conventional antihypertensive drugs (including a diuretic), or controlled BP (<140/90 mm Hg) on four or more antihypertensive drugs; hypertension and spontaneous or diuretic-induced hypokalemia; hypertension and adrenal incidentaloma; hypertension and sleep apnea; hypertension and a family history of early onset hypertension or cerebrovascular accident at a young age (<40 years); and all hypertensive first-degree relatives of patients with PA. (1-L)

We recommend using the plasma aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) to detect possible cases of PA in these patient groups. (1-M)