Resistant arterial hypertension: Association with syncronous kidney cancer and adrenal adenoma

The coexistence of renal cancer and adrenal adenoma is rare. We report the case of a 60-year-old patient with synchronous hypernephroma and adrenal adenoma. The patient presented with resistant hypertension, high plasma renin activity and aldosterone and target organ damage. Removal of the affected kidney cured the hypertension and normalized the plasma renin activity (PRA) and circulating aldosterone. This suggests that the coexistence of kidney cancer and adrenal adenoma may be a curable cause of resistant hypertension. The potential mechanisms accounting for the lack of suppression of PRA are discussed. © 2010 Società Italiana di Nefrologia.