10-Minute Scan ’Could Detect And Cure’ Most Common Cause Of High Blood Pressure

According to new research, the most common cause of high blood pressure might be found and treated with a 10-minute scan.

Morris Brown, co-senior author of the study and professor of endocrine hypertension at Queen Mary University of London, said: “These aldosterone-producing nodules are very small and easily overlooked on a regular CT scan.

“When they glow for a few minutes after our injection, they are revealed as the obvious cause of hypertension, which can often then be cured.

“Until now, 99 per cent are never diagnosed because of the difficulty and unavailability of tests. Hopefully this is about to change.”

By removing small growths (nodules) in a hormone gland, doctors from Queen Mary University of London, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and Cambridge University Hospital were able to treat excessive blood pressure.

The nodules glow quickly after an injection and, according to the researchers, show an evident explanation for the illness.

The study found that these growths are present in one in twenty individuals with high blood pressure. Some 128 people took part in the study of a new scan after doctors found that their hypertension (high blood pressure) was caused by a steroid hormone, aldosterone.

The scan found that in two thirds of patients with increased levels of the hormone, this is coming from a benign growth in just one of the adrenal glands, which can then be safely removed.

The 10-Minute Scan uses a very short-acting dose of a radioactive dye that only sticks to the nodule that produces the hormone.

Researchers suggest the scan was as accurate as the old catheter test, but quick, painless and technically successful in every patient.

Until now, the catheter test was unable to predict which patients would be completely cured of hypertension by surgical removal of the gland.

Cambridge University Hospital, and Queen Mary University of London used a novel sort of CT scan to reveal minute growths (called nodules) in a hormone gland and treat high blood pressure by removing them.

The nodules glow quickly after an injection is administered, showing an evident reason for the disease, according to the researchers.

One in twenty persons with high blood pressure have these growths, according to the study.