Patients who develop hypertension before the age of 30 who have a strong family history of hypertension, adrenal tumors, or develop a low potassium level (hypokalemia) should be screened for endocrine hypertension.
Various endocrine disorders may lead to the development of mild or severe hypertension and the elevation of blood pressure can be either permanent or only transient.
There are several causes of endocrine hypertension with the most common forms being renal artery stenosis, primary aldosteronism, and pheochromocytoma.
Pheochromocytoma are tumors from the chromaffin cells located in the adrenal medulla that produce catecholamines.
Pheochromocytoma can be detected with high sensitivity and specificity using urine and plasma catecholamine measurements.
Endocrine hypertension