Adrenocortical function in hypercalcaemia of infancy.

Since it is possible that adrenocortical hormones may be implicated in the regulation of calcium metabolism (see Hollinger and Pattee, 1956, for references) we considered that it would be of interest to gain some knowledge of the adrenocortical function of patients with idiopathic hypercalcaemia of infancy. We have investigated two such patients, one having a severe hypercalcaemic syndrome similar to that described by Schlesinger, Butler and Black (1956) and another with the benign type of hypercalcaemia. The only practicable method of assessing the adrenocortical function of these infants was to determine the urinary excretion of adrenocortical steroids before and after the administration of A.C.T.H. Since little is known about the status of the adrenal cortex in infancy we have also investigated the urinary excretion of adrenocortical steroids by six normal children and by one child who had recovered from hypercalcaemia to provide values for comparison. The results obtained from this preliminary investigation indicate that adrenocortical function in hypercalcaemic infants is impaired, and that the concentration of calcium in the blood of such infants can be influenced by adrenocortical hormones. These findings seem to us of sufficient importance to justify publication at this stage in spite of the limited scope of the investigation.