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A case of monozygotic twins with primary aldosteronism: a case report

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 31, pages 422–423 (2017)Cite this article

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Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent cause of secondary endocrine hypertension in adulthood.1 Furthermore, patients affected by PA are at a markedly increased risk of cardiovascular events compared with patients with essential hypertension.2 Therefore, screening for PA should be performed, especially in patients with moderate-to-severe and/or resistant hypertension. Familial hyperaldosteronism (FH) has been reported as a group of genetic forms of hypertension.3 However, only a minority of patients with PA have one of these syndromes, Mulatero et al.3 found in their investigation of the prevalence of FH that FH is more frequent than suspected. We herein report a rare case of two 56-year-old monozygotic twin women with a FH-II phenotype.

Two 56-year-old monozygotic twin women (A and B), who were diagnosed with hypertension at ~40 years of age, presented with high blood pressure and were transferred to our hospital for further evaluation by their family doctor. Neither of them had a history of hypertension treatment or a smoking habit. In addition, none of their children had hypertension. An examination of their family history revealed that their mother had been affected by severe hypertension since her 30 s and had been treated with antihypertensive drugs. She also showed obesity, an aneurysm of the aorta, and had a stroke at 65 years of age and died at 72 years of age due to sudden death. Their father, who had divorced their mother, died of unknown causes. Their maternal grandmother had also been severely hypertensive since her youth, while their maternal grandfather was normotensive. Their grandmother’s systolic blood pressure had been recorded to be over 200 mm Hg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Onga Nakama Medical Association, Onga Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    T Yoshida

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Uchiwa Clinic, Fukuoka, Japan

    Y Uchiwa

  3. Department of Surgery and Executive president, Onga Nakama Medical Association, Onga Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

    K Sugimachi

  4. Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Hypertension, Clinical Research Institute, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan

    M Naruse

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  1. T Yoshida
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  2. Y Uchiwa
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  4. M Naruse
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Correspondence to T Yoshida.

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Yoshida, T., Uchiwa, Y., Sugimachi, K. et al. A case of monozygotic twins with primary aldosteronism: a case report. J Hum Hypertens 31, 422–423 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2016.91

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