Assessing risk through "inspired" care
September 10th 2008This retrospective subanalysis of the Adenosine Sestamibi SPECT Post-Infarction Evaluation (INSPIRE) trial shows that early adenosine sestamibi stress testing is not only safe early after myocardial infarction (MI), but can also be very useful to identify patients at very low risk for events in the first year after discharge.
Primary aldosteronism in hypertensive patients
September 10th 2008We evaluated the prevalence of primary aldosteronism in subjects newly diagnosed with hypertension who were referred to specialized hypertension centers. An aldosterone-producing adenoma was diagnosed in the subjects with lateralized aldosterone secretion, adenoma at surgery and on pathologic evaluation, and a blood pressure fall after adrenalectomy. Evidence of excess autonomous aldosterone secretion without such criteria led to a diagnosis of idiopathic hyperaldosteronism. Aldosterone-producing adenoma and idiopathic hyperaldosteronism were conclusively diagnosed in 4.8% and 6.4% of the subjects, respectively. Thus, with a prevalence of 11.2%, primary aldosteronism is quite common in patients with newly diagnosed hypertension.