New 10-minute scan could help millions with difficult-to-treat high blood pressure
A new 10-minute scan could help millions with difficult-to-treat high blood pressure get the right treatment.
Around quarter of people with high blood pressure, have adrenal glands which produce too much aldosterone, a hormone which regulates salt levels in the body.
This problem is often difficult to diagnose, which means people with it can fly under the radar.
But now a quick scan developed by researchers at University College London can reveal it.
The test shows the overactivity in the adrenal glands that was invisible to other tests, as well as showing where too much aldosterone is being made.
Experts say this will make it easier to decide on the best treatment approach for patients.
This could include either removing an adrenal gland which is producing too much of the hormone or medicines that block its production.
Professor Bryan Williams, Chair of Medicine at UCL who led the study told Medicalxpress: ‘We have been waiting for a test like this for many decades.
New scan could help millions with difficult-to-treat high blood pressure get the right treatment
‘This British innovation is going to transform the diagnosis of aldosterone excess as an important and previously hidden cause of hypertension in many of our patients.
‘It offers huge potential to completely change the way we make this diagnosis and enable us to provide better targeted treatment for our patients.’
It was described in a research letter recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
His team used a special type of scan known as a PET-CT scan to better detect the condition.
The computed tomography (CT) part of it creates detailed 3D images of parts of the inside of the body.
Meanwhile the positron emission tomography (PET) element maps the accumulation of tiny amounts of radioactive tracer which is injected into a person’s veins.
They built a new tracer compound which is designed to bind to the enzyme which produces the hormone known as aldosterone synthase.
Then when it is taken up by the parts of the adrenal gland that were over-producing aldosterone, the areas light up on the scan.
In the fresh paper, the scientists described how 17 patients were scanned and they found the source of over-production in every patient without side effects.
‘This is the first time we have been able to visualize this disease. We can see it light up on the scan,’ added Professor Williams.
‘The intensity of the signal reflects the level of aldosterone over-production. This might allow us, in future, to more precisely target these over-producing areas.’
Their achievement builds on over 10 years of work by Professor Erik Arstad and colleagues at the same university who made a new way to make radioactive tracers.
It was through using their method that they were able to create a tracer which allowed the areas to light up on the scan.
On the breakthrough, Professor Arstad added: ‘It is very rewarding to bring laboratory innovation into the clinic for the benefit of patients with hard-to-treat hypertension.’
Following the results, the team is now undertaking a phase 2 clinical trial to get enough data for possible NHS approval.
It’s estimated 14 million people in the UK live with high blood pressure which raises risk of heart attack, stroke kidney disease and an early death.
Worryingly, the British Heart Foundation says many people in the UK may be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure.
Symptoms include headaches, blurred vision, chest pain, nose bleeds, according to the NHS.
We’re more likely to get high blood pressure as we get older, but there are certain other risk factors.
These include having a family history of high blood pressure, your ethnicity, having an unhealthy diet, being overweight, smoking, drinking alcohol and stress.
If you think you have high blood pressure you can get it checked at a pharmacy or your local GP surgery.
Many pharmacies will offer free blood pressure checks for people who are aged 40 or older.
