Abstract 15037: Hyperreninemic Aldosteronism in Caucasian and African-American Patients With Apparent Resistant Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: While primary aldosteronism (PA) is a recognized and relatively well-defined cause of resistant hypertension (RHTN), there is a relative paucity of data defining patients with hyperreninemic aldosteronism (HA) and RHTN. Hypothesis: We sought to identify characteristics of patients with HA and compare them to patients with and without PA within a large cohort of patients with RHTN. Methods: We analyzed 1236 RHTN patients who were referred to our Hypertension Clinic with and underwent complete biochemical work-up including plasma aldosterone concentration, plasma renin activity, and 24-hour urinary aldosterone. Demographics, antihypertensive drug regimen, comorbidities, biochemical parameters and evaluation for secondary RHTN, where indicated, were evaluated. Hyperreninemic aldosteronism was defined as plasma renin activity >1 ng/mL*hr, aldosterone-renin-ratio of ≈ 8 or more, and 24-hour urinary aldosterone >12 mcg/24h. Results: In 128 eligible patients with resistant hypertension and HA, the mean age was 52.9±12.1 years with 56% being males (Table). Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 149.2±22.0 and 87.9±15.5 mm Hg, respectively. Significant numbers of HA patients had co-morbid obesity (63.3%) and obstructive sleep apnea (44.9%). Compared to patients with PA, patients with HA had statistically significant lower proportions of patients with African-American race and systolic blood pressure. Compared to all RHTN patients, HA patients had lower mean age and systolic blood pressure, but were more likely to be male and have obstructive sleep apnea. Conclusions: Resistant hypertension due to hyperreninemic aldosteronism appears to predominantly affect obese, middle-aged males. Patients with HA causing RHTN have distinct differences from PA patients with RHTN. More investigation is required to identify appropriate treatment protocols for this poorly defined subset of patients with RHTN.