Comparison of Target Organ Damages between Primary Aldosteronism and Essential Hypertension

BACKGROUNDA number of recent clinical studies have reported marked target organ damages in patients with primary aldosteronism. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of target organ damages in patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) and essential hypertension (EHT). METHODS: The clinical records of 41 PA patients, over a 20-year period, were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical characteristics and incidence of target organ damages of 33 of the patients in this group were compared with those of 66 patients with essential hypertension, directly matched for age, gender and mean blood pressure. 8 of the PA patients could not be matched with EHT patients for age, gender and mean blood pressure, so were excluded from the comparison. The patients with essential hypertension were sampled from patients who visited for the evaluation of hypertension. RESULTS: Ischemic heart diseases were found in 18.2 and 10.6% of patients with PA and EHT, respectively (P = 0.22). From echocardiograms, left ventricular hypertrophy was found in 93.3% and 61.4% of patients with PA and EHT, respectively (P = 0.017). The degrees of left ventricular hypertrophy were correlated with the levels of serum aldosterone, with an r value of 0.490 (P < 0.005). Cerebrovascular attack was found in 18.2% and 1.5% of patients with PA and EHT, respectively (P = 0.005). Hypertensive retinopathy was found in 50% and 33.3% of patients with PA and EHT (P = 0.255), and nephropathy was found in 42.4% and 25.8% of patients with PA and EHT, respectively (P = 0.074). CONCLUSION: Patients with primary aldosteronism had target organ damages more frequently than with those with essential hypertension, which was independent of blood pressure.