Objective

Aldosterone exerts detrimental cardiovascular effects, and patients with an aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) carrying somatic mutations in the KCNJ5 K(+) channel (mutAPA) have higher plasma aldosterone concentration than wild-type APA (wtAPA) patients. We therefore investigated whether mutAPA patients develop a more prominent cardiovascular damage than wtAPA patients.

Methods and findings

From 257 consecutive primary aldosteronism patients, we identified 176 who had both a diagnosis of APA by the 'four corners' criteria and high-quality echocardiographic data. Of them, 129 with KCNJ5 sequencing information and long-term follow-up data were compared for echocardiographic changes according to presence (mutAPA, 26%) or absence (wtAPA, 74%) of the KCNJ5 mutations. At baseline, the mutAPA were similar to the wtAPA for blood pressure (BP) and need for antihypertensive medications. However, they had higher left ventricular mass index (59 ± 19 vs. 51 ± 13 g/h(2.7); P < 0.05) and plasma aldosterone concentration [49 (32-68) vs. 36 (25-52) ng/dl); P = 0.048] than the wtAPA patients. In spite of their more prominent cardiac involvement, the mutAPA patients exhibited a fall of BP and plasma aldosterone similar to wtAPA, and a regression of left ventricular mass index.

Conclusions

Compared to the wild-type APA patients those with KCNJ5 mutations showed more prominent cardiovascular damage. Notwithstanding this, their chances of being cured from the hyperaldosteronism and the high BP, and of regression of left ventricular hypertrophy after adrenalectomy, were not compromised by the presence of these mutations.