Potassium Depletion and Alkalosis

Abstract

Excessive potassium loss in the urine of patients with renal insufficiency is usually associated with acidosis and inability to conserve fixed cations. This report concerns a patient with malignant nephrosclerosis and a renal disorder of potassium conservation associated with alkalosis.Case Report¶J.M. (M.G.H. U-755166), a 46-year-old Italian tile layer, entered the hospital on October 17, 1951, because of weakness, weight loss and hematuria. For seventeen years he had had intermittent headaches. Sixteen years before entry he had an attack of ureteral colic and passed a renal stone. Twelve years later the blood pressure was 170/120, and the urine was . . .