title: A clinical prediction score for diagnosing unilateral primary aldosteronism may not be generalizable.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A published clinical prediction score indicated that a unilateral adrenal adenoma and either hypokalemia or an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 100 ml/min/1.73 m2 was 100% specific for unilateral primary aldosteronism. This study aimed to validate this score in a separate cohort of patients with primary aldosteronism.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review of patients with primary aldosteronism from June 2005 to July 2013 at a single center's hypertension clinic. One hundred twelve patients with primary aldosteronism underwent successful adrenal vein sampling and the 110 patients with full data available were included in the final analysis. Adrenal vein sampling was performed all patients desiring surgery by the simultaneous collection of sample prior to and 15 minutes after a cosyntropin infusion with a 3:1 aldosterone/cortisol ratio diagnosing unilateral primary aldosteronism. The derived score was applied to the cohort. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for clinical prediction score of ≥5 points.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 64 patients found to have unilateral primary aldosteronism and 48 had bilateral disease. A score ≥5 points had 64% sensitivity (95% confidence interval, 51-76) and 85% specificity (95% confidence interval, 71-94) for unilateral disease. Four patients had lateralization of primary aldosteronism to the side contralateral to the adenoma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 100% specificity of the score for the unilateral origin of primary aldosteronism was not validated in this cohort with a score of ≥5 points. At best, a high score in this prediction rule may be an additional tool for helping to confirm a decision to offer patients adrenal vein sampling.
authors.forename: Erik S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Venos
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: Valerian C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: Janice L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pasieka
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 1820 Richmond Road SW, Calgary, AB T2T 5C7, Canada. Gregory.kline@albertahealthservices.ca.
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kline
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000098:blood supply*; D000328:Adult; D000450:Aldosterone / Q000097:blood*; D003366:Cosyntropin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D006929:Hyperaldosteronism / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006947:Hyperkalemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014680:Veins
chemical_list: D003366:Cosyntropin; D000450:Aldosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone