A single-centre experience of the implementation of adrenal vein sampling procedure: the impact on the diagnostic work-up in primary aldosteronism

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Primary aldosteronism is one of the most common causes of secondary hypertension. Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) remains a "gold standard" procedure in differentiation between unilateral (adenoma) and bilateral (hyperplasia) disease. AIM: The aim of this study was to present our single-centre experience in establishing and implementating the AVS procedure. METHODS: All patients had primary aldosteronism confirmed in a salt-infusion test. AVS was performed sequentially during a continuous intravenous infusion of cosyntropin and was preceded by multislice contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) examination of adrenal glands performed a few weeks before AVS in the majority of patients. AVS was regarded as successful if the ratio of each adrenal vein cortisol to inferior vena cava cortisol levels (selectivity index [SI]) was higher than 3.0. In the case of failure, a second attempt was considered in a few weeks. Patients were divided into four groups according to the order of the procedure by quartiles. RESULTS: Between 31 May, 2012 and 5 May, 2016, AVS was performed in 124 patients (69% males, aged 55.3 +/- 10.3 years) and was successful in 120 (96.8%) patients. All failed cases were due to the failure of cannulation of the right adrenal vein. The first-attempt success rate was 94.3% (117 of 124 patients) and increased from 83.9% in the first 31 patients to 100% in the last 31 patients. Similarly, the overall success rate increased from 93.5% to 100%. The right SI was significantly higher than the left one (26.4 vs. 11.0, p < 0.0001). Both indices did not differ across quartiles of patients. No complications occurred during the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The AVS procedure, preceded by adrenal CT, may be implemented into daily diagnostic practice safely with an excellent success rate.