Major contributions (FH I, FH III) have been by Lifton and his associates; more recently they have also described somatic mutations (G151R, L168R) in KCNJ5 in over a third of aldosterone-producing adenomas, with results confirmed, refined, and extended in a much larger study from Europe.
Somatic G151R or L168R mutations were also found in 40% of aldosterone producing adenomas associated with marked hyperplasia, but not in specimens with merely unilateral hyperplasia.