RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To analyse the spectrum of renin angiotensin aldosterone system disorders in young hypertensive patients in hospital settings. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from January to December, 2016. It comprised hypertensive subjects aged 17-40 years of either gender presenting in the outpatient department. All subjects were having blood pressure more than 140/90mmHg and were not on any anti-hypertensive medicine. Blood sample was taken from each patient to analyse arterial blood gases, plasma renin, serum aldosterone and electrolytes. Association of qualitative variables like age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure with essential hypertension and primary hyperaldosteronism was explored. RESULTS: Of the 80 patients, 72(90%) were diagnosed with essential hypertension and 8(10%) with primary hyperaldosteronism. None of the patients had Liddle syndrome, apparent mineralocorticoid excess or Gordon syndrome. Mean age of patients having essential hypertension was 30.97±7.1 years, whereas, for those with primary hyperaldosteronism it was 29.25±7.1 years. Systolic blood pressure was significantly higher (p = 0.000) among all patients. No statistically significant association was found between age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Primary hyperaldosteronism as compared to other renin angiotensin aldosterone system disorders was found to be the leading cause of hypertension in young population.