A patient previously treated for bilateral breast cancer with mastectomy, radiation therapy and in remission on hormonal therapy for more than five years presented with abdominal symptoms from breast cancer relapse. She developed inappropriate polyuria and hypernatraemia, which responded to desmopressin. In combination with the absence of a high signal from the posterior lobe of the pituitary o...

A controlled, randomised trial comparing the results of oral rehydration therapy with those of intravenous fluid treatment in 470 children with severe gastroenteritis was undertaken. The oral rehydration therapy was divided into two phases--a rehydration phase that used high sodium isotonic fluid at 40 ml/kg per hour and a maintenance phase using low sodium isotonic fluid (sodium 40, potassium ...

We describe a paediatric case of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) with a novel mutation in the arginine vasopressin receptor 2 gene (AVPR2) in the absence of a family history of congenital polyuria. The patient, a 5-month-old Caucasian boy, had failure to thrive and hypernatraemia. On admission to hospital, he had a plasma sodium of 171 mEq/L with a concomittant urine osmolality of 131 mOsm...

When our experience of infants with hypernatraemic dehydration was reported 6 years ago from this hospital, the comment was made that, 'the follow-up period was, for many patients, too short to permit any evaluation of ultimate neurological status' (Macaulay and Blackhall, 1961). As far as we are aware no long-term studies of such patients have yet been published. This paper is a record of our ...

A 6-month-old male infant presented with failure to thrive. Hypernatraemia and elevated serum osmolality in the presence of low urine sodium and osmolality led to the diagnosis of diabetes insipidus. Administration of 1-deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (dDAVP) neither decreased urine volume nor increased urine osmolality indicating congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. Molecular analysis i...

Of 48 patients with fulminant hepatic failure who progressed to grade III or IV encephalopathy 38 showed evidence of renal impairment. In 32 of these patients the underlying cause could be placed initially into one of three categories-prerenal uraemia (4 patients), acute tubular necrosis (16), and "functional renal failure" (12). The latter differed in several respects from that seen with liver...

Low birthweight babies fed standard modified cows' milk formulae are at risk from the high fluid intake needed for adequate nutrition, and very preterm babies often develop late hyponatraemia if the sodium intake fails to match large renal losses. A new cows' milk formula (Cow and Gate Prematalac) provides 120 kcal, 3.6 g protein, 7.5 g fat, and 4 mmol sodium in 150 ml. Ten low birthweight babi...