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Monozygotic twins discordant for primary aldosteronism: a case report

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 31, pages 754–755 (2017)Cite this article

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A Corrigendum to this article was published on 04 October 2017

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most common cause of secondary endocrine hypertension, reportedly occurring in ~10% of patients with hypertension.1 In addition, patients with PA exhibit remarkably higher risks of cardiovascular disease than do patients with essential hypertension.2 Common PA subtypes include unilateral aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and bilateral idiopathic hyperaldosteronism (IHA); familial forms (FH) are rare.3 The genetic backgrounds of APA and FH are somatic and/or germline mutations of several genes,3, 4 while the genetic background of IHA remains unclear.

Recently, Yoshida et al.5 reported the first case of monozygotic twins with PA. We herein describe 63-year-old female monozygotic twins, who were discordant for PA in that only one was diagnosed with bilateral IHA by adrenal vein sampling (AVS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Saiseikai Yokohamashi Nanbu Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

    Y Kobayashi

  2. Division of Internal Medicine, The Kobayashi Medical Clinic, Yokohama, Japan

    Y Kobayashi

  3. Department of Medical Science and Cardiorenal Medicine, Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama, Japan

    Y Kobayashi, K Yatsu & K Tamura

  4. Department of Medicine-DIMED, Clinica dell’lpertensione Arteriosa, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Y Kobayashi & G P Rossi

  5. Division of Nephrology, Yokosuka City Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan

    K Nakata-Shimokihara & N Inoue

  6. Center for Health Service Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Japan

    T Fujikawa

  7. Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan

    N Hirawa

  8. Department of Internal Medicine, Yokohama Rosai Hospital, Yokohama, Japan

    S Umemura

  9. Clinical Hypertension, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

    F Satoh

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  1. Y Kobayashi
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  2. K Yatsu
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  7. S Umemura
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  8. F Satoh
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  9. G P Rossi
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  10. K Tamura
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Correspondence to Y Kobayashi.

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Kobayashi, Y., Yatsu, K., Nakata-Shimokihara, K. et al. Monozygotic twins discordant for primary aldosteronism: a case report. J Hum Hypertens 31, 754–755 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2017.41

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