To identify and study a large cohort of glucocorticoid remediable aldosteronism (GRA) patients.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

The spectrum of the severity and the natural history of the disorder was characterized. Modifying environmental and genetic factors important in regulation of blood pressure were determined. Also, renal physiology was studied in GRA patients to determine how these patients escaped hypokalemia in spite of mineralocorticoid excess. There were four specific aims including: 1) to determine the natural history and prevalence of GRA in various hypertensive populations, 2) to characterize the magnitude of effect imparted on blood pressure by inheritance of GRA and the sources of variation in phenotype expression of the hypertension, 3) to investigate the renal and hormonal mechanisms regulating potassium conservation and loss in GRA, and 4) to characterize the disequilibrium of GRA with Irish and Scottish descent and specific alleles of the aldosterone synthase gene.

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Hypertension
• Heart Diseases

• Litchfield WR, Coolidge C, Silva P, Lifton RP, Fallo F, Williams GH, Dluhy RG. Impaired potassium-stimulated aldosterone production: a possible explanation for normokalemic glucocorticoid-remediable aldosteronism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997 May;82(5):1507-10.
• Litchfield WR, Anderson BF, Weiss RJ, Lifton RP, Dluhy RG. Intracranial aneurysm and hemorrhagic stroke in glucocorticoid-remediable aldosteronism. Hypertension. 1998 Jan;31(1 Pt 2):445-50.
• Litchfield WR, New MI, Coolidge C, Lifton RP, Dluhy RG. Evaluation of the dexamethasone suppression test for the diagnosis of glucocorticoid-remediable aldosteronism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1997 Nov;82(11):3570-3.

No eligibility criteria