Secondary hypertensive disorders
Framing
- Secondary hypertension (hypertension driven by an identifiable underlying cause rather than primary/essential hypertension) has several endocrine causes - phaeochromocytoma (catecholamine excess) and Cushing syndrome (cortisol excess) among them - alongside renal causes such as renal artery stenosis; identifying a secondary cause matters because it can be curative (surgical/targeted) rather than requiring lifelong antihypertensive therapy
- A young age of onset, resistant hypertension, or hypertension with specific associated features (paroxysmal symptoms, characteristic body habitus changes) should prompt active screening for a secondary cause
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