A Salt Wasting Syndrome in Infancy

A continued loss of sodium and chloride is a well-known phenomenon which occurs during the course of uncontrolled adrenal insufficiency. Such losses are of serious consequence and in children lead to a failure of growth and development, to asthenia and infection. It is well recognized that many of the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency are due to the disturbance in mineral metabolism, and it is not surprising, therefore, that other conditions where excessive amounts of salt are lost from the body occasionally give rise to a picture that resembles, in many respects, adrenal insufficiency. In passing, we can mention fibrocystic disease of the pancreas, hydrocephalus with arachno-ureteric drainage, patients with heart disease who are hyper- sensitive to mercurial diuretics, cerebral salt wasting, pink disease and salt losing nephritis where there is advanced destruction of the renal parenchyma and tubular resistance to salt-retaining steroids.