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Disorders of other endocrine glands
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High blood pressure is a serious medical condition that, over time, causes damage to the heart and blood vessels. If left untreated, it often leads to life threatening conditions, such as heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and dementia. For most people, lifestyle changes and drug treatment return the blood pressure to healthy levels. However, in about 1 out of 10 patients, high blood pressure is caused by too high production of a hormone called aldosterone. This condition, known as primary hyperaldosteronism (PHA), is very difficult to treat; patients will often need to take a number of medications (3-5 drugs) for the rest of their life, and are likely to have reduced life quality. However, for about a quarter of these patients, removal of the gland (adrenal) that produces too much aldosterone can cure the condition, or help reduce the need for medication. Unfortunately, few patients with PHA (about 300 per year in the UK) are offered the chance to be treated with surgery as there are no practical methods to identify those who are likely to benefit.
We have developed a radioactive ‘chemical dye', called radiotracer, for use with an advanced type of medical imaging, known as positron emission tomography (PET). If the radiotracer works, the PET scan will allow to identify the patients who are likely to benefit from surgery, and to determine which adrenal gland to remove.
We aim to investigate how sensitive and specific the radiotracer is in depicting those parts of the adrenal gland that produce too much aldosterone. We will use advanced techniques to observe this. We will use adrenal tissue from patients who have donated their glands for research, including patients with PHA and other adrenal diseases, as well as adrenals from deceased kidney donors (whose family may consent on their behalf).
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Validation of investigation /therapeutic procedures;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Exclusion criteria will be applied to: 1. Patients undergoing routine adrenal surgery, who lack capacity to give informed consent; 2. Patients who are pregnant; 3. Children of age < 18 years.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by University College London and funded by Medical Research Council (MRC) .
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 51638
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