Adrenal Surgery

The condition’s pathophysiology is to be traced in by far the largest share of cases (85%) to an aldosterone-producing adrenocortical adenoma, most often solitary and unilateral rather than multiple of bilateral. The syndrome may be accompanied also by cortical hyperplasia without nodules or at times with diffuse micronodules, or by carcinoma. Onset varies according to published series, ranging from 20 to 60 years of age. The female-to-male ratio is 2/1. This primary form of aldosteronism must be distinguished from the secondary form, which is due to an extra-adrenal stimulus, generally of a renal origin: secondary hyperaldosteronism from hyperreninemia.