The American journal of medicine
-
There is no agreement concerning the primary pathogenetic event leading to Bartter's syndrome. Free water clearance and distal fractional chloride reabsorption were abnormally low in our patient with Bartter's syndrome. ⋯ However, magnesium infusion eliminated renal potassium wasting. These observations suggest that the proximate cause of Bartter's syndrome in this patient is a primary defect in the reabsorption of sodium chloride in the ascending limb and not renal potassium wasting. however, hypomagnesemia may contribute to the renal potassium wasting seen in this syndrome.