[Hypertension etiological work up: Hormonological assessment always before imaging?]

[Hypertension etiological work up: Hormonological assessment always before imaging?] Presse Med. 2016 Aug 31; Authors: Chamontin B, Seguro F, Touront N, Bouhanick B Abstract The purpose is to consider the practical management of etiological work up in hypertension, beyond national or international recommendations, leading to consider the prior practice of hormonal assays or renal, renovascular or adrenal imaging. The ease of access to imaging, difficulties to meet the requirements to obtain reliable hormonal assays explain the use of first-line imaging in clinical practice. The renal and adrenal CT angiography provides diagnostic orientation without allowing a formal conclusion. Incidentaloma prevalence in the general population, increasing with age, underlines the limitations of a decision based only on imaging. The discovery of adrenal morphological abnormalities justifies the realization of hormonal assays to determine their causal relationship with hypertension. The aldosterone/PRA ratio, in standardized conditions, has the best diagnostic performance to screen for primary aldosteronism and is the pivotal test of the etiological diagnosis of hypertension. The identification of a subclinical Cushing should be considered in patients with adrenal morphological abnormalities, particularly in case of metabolic syndrome. The abdominal CTscan is initially recommended in the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, but the recommende boichemical t...
Source: Presse Medicale - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Presse Med Source Type: research