About this Research Topic
The most common form of endocrine hypertension is primary aldosteronism (PA), which occurs in 5% to 20% of hypertensive patients. Even though most physicians are aware that PA is not a rare disease, it is often overlooked not only because it mimics essential hypertension, but also because the work-up for screening PA is often perceived as complex and unfeasible. PA remains under-diagnosed despite there are evidences that PA is associated with cardiovascular and renal damage more severe than that found in patients with essential hypertension having comparable blood pressure values. Moreover, an appropriate treatment in PA can reduce the risk. In fact, in patients with lateralized excess aldosterone production, adrenalectomy can cure the biochemical picture of PA with excess aldosterone, and also cures, or ameliorates, hypertension.
Other conditions that cause endocrine hypertension include pheochromocytoma, Cushing’s syndrome, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Liddle syndrome, acromegaly, thyroid diseases, and primary hyperparathyroidism. These diseases are often unrecognized, mostly because the diagnostic work-up is seen as challenging. A clear picture of the clinical signs that should raise alertness in the physician, as well as definition of the GP’s and the endocrinologist’s work-up could be helpful for diagnosing these endocrine forms of arterial hypertension.
In the last decades, knowledge of the mechanisms underlying endocrine forms of arterial hypertension, mostly PA and pheochromocytoma, greatly changed our view on pathophysiology of such diseases. A deeper insight into mechanistic aspects is undoubtedly relevant for translational medicine, hoping that it could offer new strategies for these diseases in the next future.
The major aims of the Research Topic are 1) to give a comprehensive view of the molecular mechanism underlying the different endocrine forms of arterial hypertension and 2) to offer a practical approach to the diagnosis and management of such diseases.
Keywords: Hypertension, Endocrine, Aldosterone, Cortisol, Adrenal
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.