Adrenal Histologic Findings Show No Difference in Clinical Presentation and Outcome in Primary Hyperaldosteronism

Background Primary hyperaldosteronism is most commonly due to a solitary cortical adenoma. Thus, some surgeons have suggested a subtotal adrenalectomy is a reasonable approach when a mass can be identified. On the other hand, adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is being used more frequently to distinguish patients with unilateral disease for adrenalectomy, even if a discrete mass is not identified on axial imaging. In these cases, surgical pathology may reveal a cortical adenoma, a cortical adenoma with hyperplasia, or cortical hyperplasia. The goal of this study was to compare the presentation and outcome among patients undergoing adrenalectomy and found to have different histologic features.