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Adrenal gland

A diagnostic algorithm—the holy grail of primary aldosteronism

Primary aldosteronism is a common, but often overlooked, cause of arterial hypertension. Recent guidelines by the Japanese Endocrine Society should improve detection of this surgically curable disorder, but their endorsement of a 'confirmatory' test in patients with a positive aldosterone-to-renin ratio must be viewed with caution.

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Figure 1: Flow diagram of studies for assessing diagnostic accuracy of a test.

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Correspondence to Gian Paolo Rossi.

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Rossi, G., Seccia, T. & Pessina, A. A diagnostic algorithm—the holy grail of primary aldosteronism. Nat Rev Endocrinol 7, 697–699 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2011.180

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