Analysis of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with unilateral and bilateral primary aldosteronism

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the parameters of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in primary aldosteronism (PA) and the incidence of LVH in different types of PA. Methods: Two hundred and seven patients were diagnosed as PA in this study. All PA were divided into unilateral and bilateral groups by adrenal vein sampling (AVS), and all subjects have performed clinical and biochemical testing and echocardiography. Then, we analyzed the incidence of LVH in unilateral and bilateral PA, and the risk factors of LVH in PA patients. Results: 78 cases were unilateral lesions, 129 cases were bilateral lesions. Compared with the bilateral group, the unilateral group had lower blood potassium and seated plasma renin activity (P<0.05), and higher 24 h urinary potassium (P=0.022). In all patients, there were 109 patients who developed LVH (52.7%); and the incidence of LVH in unilateral and bilateral PA was 61.5% (48/78) and 47.2% (61/129), respectively. There were significant differences between two groups (P=0.047). Further, the binary logistic regression analysis showed that seated aldosterone (ALD) (OR=0.962, P=0.03) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) (OR=0.945, P=0.021) were the independent risk factors of LVH. Conclusion: PA patients have a higher incidence of LVH, especially in the unilateral group; high ALD levels and SBP were the independent risk factors of LVH in PA patients.