Renal Calcification Accompanying Pyloric and High Intestinal Obstruction

The purpose of this paper is to call attention to a not infrequent and often overlooked pathologic state occurring in patients subjected to a loss of gastric or high intestinal secretions over a long period. In medical and surgical wards such patients are frequently seen presenting symptoms of pyloric or high intestinal obstruction or being subjected to continuous gastric or intestinal drainage for the alleviation of distention and vomiting. The alarming clinical picture these patients present is frequently overlooked, and effective treatment of the condition is too often lacking. The patients, therefore, are permitted to succumb to a chemical acid-base imbalance, with its accompanying impaired renal function. At autopsy, they are often found to have extensive and apparently irreparable renal calcification. The early institution of proper therapy in such cases might often forestall this outcome, for the restoration of a proper chemical balance might restore or markedly improve the function