American journal of kidney diseases : the official journal of the National Kidney Foundation
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Review Case Reports
Hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis with hypomagnesuric hypermagnesemia and severe hypocalciuria: a new syndrome?
Bartter's and Gitelman's syndromes are characterized by hypokalemia, urinary potassium wasting, elevated plasma renin activity and aldosterone levels, normotension, and prostaglandinuria. They differ in that hypomagnesemia and hypocalciuria are universal in Gitelman's syndrome; 20% of cases of Bartter's syndrome have hypomagnesemia and hypercalciuria. We present a 44-year-old white man referred for hypokalemia. ⋯ In conclusion, this combination of metabolic abnormalities has never been described. We postulate a proximal tubular defect in the absorption of NaCl leading to hypocalciuria, hypomagnesuria, and potassium wasting. Whether the tubular defect is primary or secondary to a renal parenchymal disease is, however, unclear.
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A 65-year-old man with end-stage renal disease on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis accidentally received an acute massive overdose of gentamicin as a treatment of peritonitis. The patient developed acute vestibular dysfunction and hearing loss following the overdose. His serum gentamicin had reached the extremely toxic level of 220 microg/mL. ⋯ Moderate and persistent high-frequency hearing loss was documented with serial audiograms. The patient made a gradual but incomplete recovery from the vestibular dysfunction. The complications of gentamicin toxicity and its management are discussed with respect to our patient.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Effect of bicarbonate administration on plasma potassium in dialysis patients: interactions with insulin and albuterol.
Acute treatment of hyperkalemia in patients with end-stage renal disease requires temporizing measures to shift potassium rapidly from the extracellular to the intracellular fluid compartments until hemodialysis can be initiated. Whereas insulin and albuterol are effective in lowering plasma potassium acutely, bicarbonate by itself is not. Bicarbonate administration may, however, potentiate the effects of insulin and albuterol on plasma potassium. ⋯ Likewise, nebulized albuterol decreased plasma potassium by a similar degree when given with bicarbonate or saline (-0.71 +/- 0.16 mmol/L v -0.53 +/- 0.15 mmol/L at 60 minutes; P = 0.18). The three protocols that included bicarbonate administration resulted in significant increases in blood bicarbonate (P < 0.005) and pH (P < 0.01), whereas the three protocols that included saline did not affect blood bicarbonate or pH. These observations suggest that bicarbonate administration does not potentiate the potassium-lowering effects of insulin or albuterol in hemodialysis patients.
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Despite major developments in medicine, surgery, and intensive care, acute renal failure (ARF) still remains a common problem affecting approximately 5% of all general hospital patients. Mortality of all forms of ARF continues to be greater than 50%, and this percentage has not decreased significantly over the last 30 years. There are multiple factors, which may explain the persistence of such high mortality; the most important of these is probably the evolution of the disease spectrum underlying the development of ARF. ⋯ Vasoactive agents, such as dopamine, may have the advantage of increasing the urine output in patients with oliguric ARF; however, their efficacy in otherwise altering the course of ARF is not well substantiated. Finally, growth factors and atrial natriuretic peptide appear to have the potential for accelerating renal recovery and decreasing morbidity and mortality from this commonly encountered medical problem. Prospective randomized clinical studies are the key to many of the dilemmas encountered with ARF.
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Review Case Reports
Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis associated with hypokalemia and hypophosphatemia.
We report the rare case of a 43-year-old African-American man with thyrotoxic periodic paralysis associated with hypokalemia and hypophosphatemia. Both serum potassium and serum phosphate levels returned to normal after supplementation with only potassium. We consider the unusual condition of hyperthyroid-related hypokalemia and hypophosphatemia to have contributed to the acute paralysis in this patient.