Dionisio P, Bergia R, Valenti M, Caramello E, Pellerey M, Berto I M, Mazzucco G, Bajardi P
Servizio di Nefrologia e Dialisi, USSL n. 47, Ospedale degli Infermi, Biella, Vercelli.
Minerva Med. 1992 Dec;83(12 Suppl 1):19-23.
In this work we describe a case of Conn's syndrome caused by a suprarenal adenoma in a sixty-one year female. The patient had come to our observation because of severe hypertension and hypokalemia. Primary aldosteronism resulting from the secretion of excessive amounts of aldosterone caused by autonomous hyperfunction of the adrenal cortex usually by a solitary adenoma. In most series of unselected patients, it is found in fewer than 0.5% of hypertensives. In our study we demonstrated the circadian changes of arterial blood pressure but we failed to demonstrate the presence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as recently emphasized in the literature. Regardless of its rarity, primary aldosteronism is a fascinating disease, protean in its manifestations, logical in its pathophysiology.
