Does the frequency distribution of plasma angiotensin II concentrations indicate that 'low-renin' hypertension is a distinct condition from essential hypertension?
The lack of bimodality in plasma angiotensin II concentrations suggests that 'low-renin' hypertension is not a separate condition from essential hypertension.
Plasma concentrations of angiotensin II (PAC) were measured in a group of 146 hypertensive patients (diastolic pressure greater than 105 mm Hg) who had no apparent underlying cause for their condition and 113 randomly selected normotensive controls (diastolic pressure less than 90 mm Hg). There was no evidence of bimodality in the frequency distribution curves for plasma angiotensin II concentrations among the hypertensive patients. It was concluded that hypertension associated with low angiotensin II concentration and by implication "low-renin" hypertension is not a condition separate from essential hypertension.
Beevers et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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