Surgical Outcomes Among Primary Aldosteronism Patients Without Visible Adrenal Lesions.
CONTEXT
Many patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism (PA) have normal adrenal imaging, but little is known about their outcome following adrenalectomy.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate biochemical and clinical outcomes after adrenalectomy in patients with unilateral PA and normal-appearing adrenal imaging.


DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study of patients seen between January 2006 and May 2018.


SETTING
A Canadian tertiary care PA referral center.


PATIENTS
Consecutive individuals with PA, normal cross-sectional adrenal imaging, and lateralizing adrenal vein sampling (AVS) who underwent adrenalectomy during the study period.


PRIMARY OUTCOME
Biochemical response to adrenalectomy graded according to the Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcome criteria.


RESULTS
A total of 40 patients were included. Biochemical outcomes were available for 33 people (mean age, 54.7 years; 91% male; median follow-up, 2.7 months), with 28 (85%) showing a complete or partial response and 5 (15%) with no response. Clinical outcomes were available for 36 people (mean age, 54.6 years; 86% male; median follow-up, 9.8 months), with 31 (86%) demonstrating a complete or partial response and 5 (14%) with no response.


CONCLUSIONS
The prognosis after adrenalectomy is highly favorable for patients with unilateral PA and normal-appearing adrenal imaging. Patients with lateralizing disease should be considered for surgery despite apparently normal adrenal imaging.
['Sam|Davis|D|', 'Kline|Gregory A|GA|', 'So|Benny|B|', 'Pasieka|Janice L|JL|', 'Harvey|Adrian|A|', 'Chin|Alex|A|', 'Przybojewski|Stefan J|SJ|', 'Leung|Alexander A|AA|']
D000311:Adrenal Glands D000315:Adrenalectomy D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D002170:Canada D015331:Cohort Studies D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006801:Humans D006929:Hyperaldosteronism D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D011184:Postoperative Period D011379:Prognosis D012189:Retrospective Studies D016896:Treatment Outcome
adrenalectomy adrenal vein sampling normal imaging