Electrolyte and Water Excretion in Arterial Hypertension. I. Studies in Non-Medically Treated Subjects with Essential Hypertension1

In a preliminary investigation it was reported that abnormally high rates of sodium excretion followed the infusion of hypertonic saline in un- treated patients with essential hypertension (1). Furthermore, it was noted that several oral drugs commonly employed in the treatment of hyperten- sion usually modified this pattern of renal sodium excretion. The present report describes further work on sodium excretion in hypertensive patients and in general agrees with previous reports of other authors (2, 3). In addition, it describes studies made in an attempt to clarify the disturb- ance of sodium excretion in hypertension and its relationship to renal function, renal hemodynamics, salt intake, and splanchnic sympathetic activity.