Although aldosterone was first crystallized in the 1950s and the clinical syndrome of primary aldosteronism (PA) was described soon after, the molecular and clinical knowledge about this disorder has been expanding exponentially over the past decade. With improvement in cross-sectional imaging resolution, and given that aldosterone-producing adenomas have traditionally been thought to be the cause of most PA cases when unilateral abnormalities are identified on imaging, the concept of partial adrenalectomy (PADX) is being more frequently entertained. PADX has been described most often for patients with other adrenal disorders, particularly in the context of catecholamine or cortisol producing genetically driven adrenal tumors associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia, Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia, and other syndromes.
