Hypertension outcomes of adrenalectomy in patients with primary aldosteronism: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The hypertension cure rate of unilateral adrenalectomy in primary aldosteronism (PA) patients varies widely in existing studies. METHODS: We conducted an observational meta-analysis to summarize the pooled hypertension cure rate of unilateral adrenalectomy in PA patients. Comprehensive electronic searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), WanFang, SinoMed and Chongqing VIP databases were performed from initial state to May 20, 2016. We manually selected eligible studies from references in accordance with the inclusion criteria. The pooled hypertension cure rate of unilateral adrenalectomy in PA patients was calculated using the DerSimonian–Laird method to produce a random-effects model. RESULTS: Forty-three studies comprising approximately 4000 PA patients were included. The pooled hypertension cure rate was 50.6% (95% CI: 42.9–58.2%) for unilateral adrenalectomy in PA. Subgroup analyses showed that the hypertension cure rate was 61.3% (95% CI: 49.4–73.3%) in Chinese studies and 43.7% (95% CI: 38.0–49.4%) for other countries. Furthermore, the hypertension cure rate at 6-month follow-up was 53.3% (95% CI: 36.0–70.5%) and 49.6% (95% CI: 40.9–58.3%) for follow-up exceeding 6 months. The pooled hypertension cure rate was 50.9% (95% CI: 40.5–61.3%) from 2001 to 2010 and 50.2% (95% CI: 39.0–61.5%) from 2011 to 2016. CONCLUSIONS: The hypertension cure rate for unilateral adrenalectomy in PA is not optimal. Large clinical trials are required to verify the utility of potential preoperative predictors in developing a novel and effective prediction model.