Most common causes of hyperaldosteronism
What are the most common subtypes or causes of hyperaldosteronism?
Hyperaldosteronism can be either primary or secondary. As a result of an autonomously functioning adrenal adenoma, it is called Conn syndrome, after Jerome William Conn (1907 to 1994).
More common is bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (sometimes called idiopathic hyperaldosteronism), in which both glands oversecrete aldosterone.
Glucocorticoid-remediable hyperaldosteronism results from a chimeric gene on chromosome 8 that crosses the regulatory sequence for corticotropin, 11β-hydroxylase, with the enzyme coding sequences for aldosterone synthase. Hyperaldosteronism from an adrenal carcinoma is rare (∼30 cases worldwide) and usually presents as a large tumor.
Secondary hyperaldosteronism includes obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA is one of the more common causes of resistant hypertension. Renovascular hypertension is another example of secondary hyperaldosteronism causing hypertension.
