Abstract Body: Background and Purpose: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is characterized by the autonomous overproduction of aldosterone leading to the risk of occurrence of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), but the exact prevalence of PA is unknown in patients with AIS. PA induces oxidative stress and inflammation through vascular endothelial cells, which may damage small vessel disease (SVD). We conducted a prospective study to investigate the prevalence of screening and definite diagnosis of PA in patients with AIS. Next, we aimed to reveal whether SVD markers could be associated with PA.
Methods: We screened consecutive patients with AIS who participated in our prospective study to investigate the prevalence of PA and followed up for PA evaluation from October 2020 to December 2022. Inclusion criteria were patients with AIS hospitalized and diagnosed with hypertension. Exclusion criteria were patients taking medications affecting renin, aldosterone, and catecholamines. The screening criteria for PA was defined as the aldosterone-to-renin ratio > 200. Final diagnosis of PA was judged by endocrinologist if one of the captopril challenge test, saline infusion test, and furosemide-upright test was positive following discharge. We evaluated total SVD score based on white matter hyperintensities (separately scored by periventricular hyperintensity [PVH] and deep and subcortical white matter hyperintensity), cerebral microbleeds (CMBs; categorized into deep, lobar, and infratentorial lesions), enlarged perivascular spaces (separately scored in basal ganglia and centrum semiovale), and old lacunes on MRI.
Results: We included 120 patients with AIS (93 [78%] male, median age 62 years, Figure 1). The screening for PA was positive in 33 (28%) patients and 8 (7%) patients were finally diagnosed with definite PA. In Poisson regression analysis with a robust variance estimator, total SVD score was related to positive PA screening (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.261, 95% CI 1.021-1.556, p = 0.031) and definite PA diagnosis (PR 1.946, 95% CI 1.229-3.082, p = 0.005, Figure 2). In terms of each SVD marker, severe PVH, and deep and lobar CMBs were associated with positive PA screening and definite PA diagnosis (Figure 3).
Conclusions: Twenty-eight percent of patients with AIS were positive for PA screening, and then about a quarter of them were confirmed as definite PA. SVD burden, especially PVH, and deep and lobar CMBs, might be associated with positive screening and definite diagnosis of PA.