so-called congenital alkalosis with diarrhoea

EDITORIAL SYNOPSIS Observations are described in an 8-year-old boy, the fifth case to be recognized of the syndrome previously known as 'congenital alkalosis with diarrhoea'. The condition appears to result from an abnormal handling of chloride ion in the alimentary tract; the pathognomic biochemical features are an invariably high faecal concentration of chloride and liquid stools which consistently contain an excess of chloride over the sum of sodium and potassium. Unabsorbed chloride appears to act as an osmotic cathartic and potassium is lost in the resulting watery diarrhoea; the metabolic alkalosis is an acquired consequence of potassium and chloride deficiency. For these reasons, it is suggested that the altemative name of 'congenital chloridorrhoea' provides