Primary Aldosteronism
Primary Aldosteronism (PA), or Conn’s Disease, is characterized by
autonomous hypersecretion of aldosterone either due to an
aldosterone-producing adenoma or due to bilateral adrenal hyperplasia. A
systematic review that included 15 studies (Velema et al. , 2017)
demonstrated that untreated patients with PA showed lower physical and
mental quality of life compared to the general population independent of
the cause of PA. Furthermore, PA patients exhibited more
psychopathologies including depressive symptoms, anxiety, agitation, and
sleep problems. It is likely that overstimulation of central MR by
aldosterone contributes to psychopathology in PA (Künzel, 2012). In
fact, a recent study demonstrated that adrenalectomy in patients with PA
normalized aldosterone secretion, which was associated with improved
depressive symptoms (Murck et al. , 2021). To our knowledge, no
study has specifically examined cognitive function in patients with PA
versus a matched healthy control group.