Primary Aldosteronism is a common, treatable and often curable form of secondary hypertension characterized by antihypertensive resistance, hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis. The screening and diagnostic process is heavily dependent on the analytical determination of plasma aldosterone and plasma renin activity (or mass) and the calculation of their ratio. However, both aldosterone and renin suffer a great deal of method-dependent bias making the ascertainment of the optimal screening threshold for the aldosterone to renin ratio a non-trivial task. By overseeing the screening and diagnostic analytical process, the Clinical Chemist and/or Clinical Pathologist can have a very significant and positive impact on health care. Additionally, a number of other medical conditions manifest themselves with derangements to the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and these can be "caught" through careful professional oversight.

1. Understand what patient population should be screened for primary aldosteronism
2. Understand the causes of primary aldosteronism
3. Understand the analytical pitfalls with aldosterone methods and how they affect the screening process
4. Describe how primary aldosteronism is definitively diagnosed
5. Describe the role of the Clinical Chemist/Clinical Pathologist in the screening diagnostic process
6. Describe how aldosterone producing tumors are localized and the role that Clinical Chemists and Clinical Pathologists can play.
7. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of migration of aldosterone to LC-MS/MS