Scientists from Queen Mary University of London and other institutions have developed a new kind of CT scan that can help find a hidden cause of high blood pressure in some people and even cure it by removing tiny growths from a hormone gland.
This breakthrough could help millions of people around the world who suffer from high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
High blood pressure is a common condition that can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and kidney problems if not controlled. In about 1 out of every 20 people with high blood pressure, the condition is caused by a small, non-cancerous lump in one of the adrenal glands.
These glands, which sit above the kidneys, make hormones that help control blood pressure. One of these hormones is called aldosterone.
When too much aldosterone is made, it can raise blood pressure by causing the body to hold on to salt and water.
The problem is that these tiny lumps, or nodules, are very hard to detect. For the past 60 years, doctors have relied on a difficult test that involves inserting a thin tube, or catheter, into a vein to measure hormone levels.
This test is not only uncomfortable and complex, but it is also only available in a few hospitals and often doesn’t work well. As a result, most people with this type of hormone-related high blood pressure are never diagnosed or treated properly.
In this new study, researchers tested a special type of CT scan in 128 people who were already known to have high levels of aldosterone. The scan uses a small dose of a radioactive dye called metomidate, which sticks only to the nodules that are making too much aldosterone. After the dye is injected, the nodules glow on the scan for a few minutes, making them easy to spot.
The results were impressive. The scan found that in about two-thirds of these patients, the excess hormone was coming from a single adrenal gland with a small nodule. These nodules could be removed with surgery, and many patients no longer needed blood pressure medication afterward.
To make the scan even more helpful, the scientists also used a urine test that measures hormone levels over time. When they combined the scan with this urine test, they were able to correctly identify most of the patients who were completely cured of their high blood pressure after surgery.
In fact, 18 out of 24 patients with a glowing nodule and a positive urine test were able to stop all their blood pressure medications.
This is a huge step forward, since it means doctors can now find the real cause of high blood pressure in some patients and offer a simple cure. The scan is quick, painless, and works well in all patients, unlike the old catheter test. It also means fewer people will have to live with the side effects of long-term blood pressure medication.
The researchers hope this new scan will be used more widely, so that the many patients who have this hidden hormone problem can finally be diagnosed and treated. For now, most people with this condition go undiagnosed simply because the old test is too hard to do or not available in most places.
The study was led by Professor Morris Brown and published in the journal Nature Medicine. It offers new hope for people with hard-to-treat high blood pressure and shows how a simple scan can reveal a cure that was previously out of reach.
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