[Alkalizing activity of a calcium-bicarbonate-containing water, evaluated for pH, in patients with gastroesophageal reflux]

Bicarbonate-calcic water Ferrarelle has been administered both in the fasting state and during meals to patients suffering from gastro-esophageal reflux disease submitted to computerized pHmetry. Marked and lasting increase of esophageal and gastric pH was observed with significant differences from the effect of tap water. In addition, patients reported improvement of heart burn and acidity after the administration of the bicarbonate-calcic water. The alkalizing effect of the mineral water employed is therefore fully confirmed.

Transient neonatal distal renal tubular acidosis with secondary hyperparathyroidism

We describe a neonate with distal renal tubular acidosis with secondary hyperparathyroidism manifesting as hyperchloraemia, hypercalcaemia, elevated serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and life-threatening metabolic acidosis. He exhibited general weakness, tachypnoea, dry skin and weight loss. Urinary excretion of titratable acid and ammonium was decreased. Daily alkali (2.5 mEq/kg body weight) was required to maintain a normal plasma bicarbonate (HCO3-). With alkali therapy, the fractional excretion of HCO3- was below 5%. Serum calcium and PTH were restored to normal promptly on initiation of alkali therapy. After 5 months of alkali therapy, normal growth and urine acidifying ability were restored and alkali therapy was discontinued. The acidification defect in this patient was transient. We consider this patient to be consistent with Lightwood's syndrome of "transient infantile renal tubular acidosis".

[Effect of alkalies on gastric acidity in patients with duodenal ulcer]

Acidity of the gastric juice was measured following single oral dose of fluid and powdered alkalizing agents. It was found that liquid form of such an agent (Alugastrin) in a dose of 30 mL effectively increases intragastric pH to 5.0-6.0 and maintains it at 3.0-4.0 for 60 to 90 minutes. This agent similarly neutralizes gastric content in patients with or without duodenal ulcer. Tablet forms of alkalizing agents (Gastrin and Wikalina) increase pH to 7.5 within 10 minutes and maintain it at 3.0-4.0 for 90 minutes whereas other brands (Alusal and Magnosil) slightly alkalize gastric content for 30 minutes. The studies indicate that preparations Alugastrin, Gastrin and Wikalina efficiently alkalize gastric juice for longer period of time than Maalox. Therefore, more frequent--every 1 to 1.5 hours--administration of alkalizing agents is recommended in order to increase intragastric pH in those diseases which require the elimination of hydrochloric acid.

Treatment of radiolucent renal calculi using ESWL combined with urine alkalinization

During the last 16 months, out of a total of 50 patients with renal urate stones 30 were treated by ESWL alone (Group A) and 20 by ESWL combined with urine alkalinization (Group B) as an adjuvant treatment. The stones were single in 14 cases, multiple in 25 and branching in 11 cases. The average long axis of the stones was 3.6 cm. In Group A 76.6% of the patients were stone-free 3 months after ESWL, in comparison with 90% in Group B patients who underwent the combined treatment.

Acid and alkaline diuresis. When are they of value in the treatment of poisoning?

The utility of both acid and alkaline diuresis has been brought into question because of the ability to increase the elimination rate of many toxins by less care-intensive methods such as repeated-dose charcoal. Alkaline diuresis is a technique which uses a common drug, but acid diuresis is not a technique known to most physicians. The former is currently the best therapy for quinine poisoning. Phencyclidine elimination is increased by 10%, but most patients recover with only supportive care. Acidification has been effective in some hands; data suggest that renal elimination is not the only mechanism of action of this therapy. In deeply comatose patients with hypotension, acidification should be considered. Alkalinisation, the mainstay of therapy for salicylate and phenobarbital poisoning over many decades, is effective, although no more so than charcoal, and less than dialysis.

Alkali action on the urinary crystallization of calcium salts: contrasting responses to sodium citrate and potassium citrate

Alkali therapy is used commonly to prevent recurrent stone formation in patients with distal renal tubular acidosis. We compared the effects of potassium citrate to those of sodium citrate in 6 well defined cases of incomplete distal renal tubular acidosis. The patients were studied during a control phase, during potassium citrate treatment (80 mEq. per day) and during sodium citrate treatment (80 mEq. per day) chosen in random order. Potassium citrate caused a decrease in urinary calcium and a significant increase in urinary citrate that resulted in a significant decrease in the urinary saturation of calcium oxalate. It did not alter the saturation of brushite and sodium urate. However, while sodium citrate also was able to increase the urinary citrate level, there was no decrease in the urinary calcium (owing to the increased sodium load). Thus, the urinary saturation of calcium oxalate did not decrease as much as with potassium citrate and the saturation of brushite increased significantly. Moreover, the urinary saturation of sodium urate increased significantly owing to the enhanced sodium excretion. The results suggest that potassium citrate therapy may retard the crystallization of calcium oxalate and may not cause calcium phosphate crystallization. In contrast, sodium citrate may have no effect or it sometimes may accentuate the crystallization of calcium salts. Thus, our study supports the potential clinical advantage of potassium citrate therapy over sodium alkali treatment in patients with incomplete distal renal tubular acidosis and recurrent calcium nephrolithiasis.

Controversies in lactic acidosis. Implications in critically ill patients

Lactic acidosis is common in critically ill patients and is usually caused by tissue perfusion that is inadequate to meet metabolic demand. However, it has also been noted in conditions in which tissue perfusion is apparently adequate. Hyperlactatemia can occur in the absence of acidosis, usually in the setting of hypermetabolic disease. Numerous areas of controversy exist regarding the pathogenesis of lactic acidosis, as well as certain of its diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic features. Knowledge of these areas of controversy should facilitate the clinician's approach to diagnosis and management.

Management of the patient with cystinuria

Cystinuria is a complex hereditary disorder characterized by excessive urinary excretion of cystine. For the homozygote patient who excretes more than 400 mg per day, recurrent urinary calculus formation can necessitate repeat surgical manipulation with its associated morbidity. This review details the long-term medical management program for the patient with cystinuria and recurrent calculus formation.

Methanol and ethylene glycol poisonings. Mechanism of toxicity, clinical course, diagnosis and treatment

Methanol and ethylene glycol poisonings share many characteristics both clinically and biochemically. Both alcohols are metabolised via alcohol dehydrogenase to their toxic metabolites. Methanol is slowly metabolised to formaldehyde which is rapidly metabolised to formate, the metabolite mainly responsible for methanol toxicity. Formate metabolism depends upon the folate pool which is small in primates compared with other animals. Therefore, formate accumulates in primates during methanol intoxication and is mainly responsible for the metabolic acidosis in the early stage of intoxication. In late stages lactate may also accumulate, mainly due to formate inhibition of the respiratory chain. This tissue hypoxia caused by formate may explain the ocular as well as the general toxicity. Ethylene glycol is metabolised more rapidly than methanol, via alcohol dehydrogenase to glycolaldehyde which is rapidly metabolised to glycolate, the metabolite mainly responsible for the metabolic acidosis in ethylene glycol poisoning. Glycolate is metabolised by various pathways, including one to oxalate which rapidly precipitates with calcium in various tissues and in the urine. Ethylene glycol toxicity is complex and not fully understood, but is mainly due to the severe metabolic acidosis caused by glycolate and to the calcium oxalate precipitation. The clinical course in both poisonings is initially characterised by the development of metabolic acidosis following a latent period, which is more pronounced in methanol poisoning and is the time taken for both alcohols to be metabolised to their toxic metabolites. In methanol poisoning there are usually visual symptoms progressing to visual impairment, whereas ethylene glycol victims develop renal and cardiopulmonary failure. Prognosis is excellent in both poisonings provided that there is early treatment with alkali to combat acidosis, ethanol as an antimetabolite, and haemodialysis to remove the alcohols and their toxic metabolites. Ethanol is also metabolised by alcohol dehydrogenase, but has a much higher affinity for this enzyme than methanol and ethylene glycol. Presence of ethanol will therefore inhibit formation of toxic metabolites from methanol and ethylene glycol. Due to competition for the enzyme, the therapeutic ethanol concentration depends on the concentration of the other two alcohols, but a therapeutic ethanol concentration around 22 mmol/L (100 mg/dl) is generally recommended. Most patients are, however, admitted at a late stage to hospitals not capable of performing analyses of these alcohols or their specific metabolites on a 24-hour basis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Excessive crystal agglomeration with low citrate excretion in recurrent stone-formers

In 7 highly recurrent calcium oxalate stone-formers and 10 healthy subjects the effects of urine on three processes of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystallisation--solubility, crystal growth, and crystal agglomeration--were studied. The urine of the stone-formers showed low calcium oxalate solubility and normal crystal growth inhibition, but lacked the ability to inhibit crystal agglomeration. As the sole metabolic abnormality, all stone-formers showed hypocitraturia. Normalisation of urinary citrate concentration resulted both in vitro and in vivo in a significant rise in agglomeration inhibition. These results show that inhibition of agglomeration is a very important, probably citrate-regulated, process in calcium oxalate stone formation.

Renal tubular acidosis in children. Diagnosis, treatment and prognosis

To delineate the spectrum of clinical expressions of distal, type 1 renal tubular acidosis in children and to update progress in diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis, the medical records of 14 girls and 10 boys, seen over a 7 year period, who met the following criteria, were examined: persistent urinary pH more than 6, net acid excretion less than 70 microEq/min/1.73 m2, simultaneous serum total CO2 less than 17.5 mEq/1, and normal or mild impairment of the glomerular filtration rate. The mean age at diagnosis was 8 months. The presenting signs and symptoms were failure to thrive (50%), vomiting and/or diarrhea (37.5%), dehydration (12.5%), and poor feeding (8.3%). Mean values +/- SD of serum calcium (9.8 +/- 0.8 mg/dl), inorganic phosphate (5.6 +/- 0.8 mg/dl), and alkaline phosphatase (222.6 +/- 96.1 U/l) were normal. Hyperkalemia (serum potassium above 5.0 mEq/l) was present at diagnosis in 13 children. Type 4 renal tubular acidosis was ruled out by the inability to achieve a minimum urine pH. With a mean follow-up period of 28.1 +/- 25.3 months, after alkali therapy at 3.3-3.5 mEq/kg/day had been administered for at least 12 months, the growth parameters improved as follows: the percentile weight (mean +/- SD) increased from the initial 11.8 +/- 7.5 to the final 27.6 +/- 31.3 (p less than 0.003), and the length/height percentile increased from 11.5 +/- 7.3 to 29.7 +/- 24.2 (p less than 0.03). The relationship between urine calcium/creatinine ratio and serum total CO2 showed poor correlation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Indomethacin in the treatment of proximal tubular acidosis

Treatment of a 7-week-old black male who had proximal tubular acidosis with large doses of bicarbonate did not achieve correction of the acidosis and was accompanied by diarrhea. Addition of indomethacin therapy (2 mg/kg/day) was followed by correction of the acidosis and allowed a decrease in the dosage of alkali.

Salvage of an obstructed single kidney by combined percutaneous nephrostomy, percutaneous stone extraction and alkalinisation

A 72-year-old woman with a single kidney and renal calculi was admitted as an emergency with sepsis and anuria. Renal drainage was established by percutaneous nephrostomy (PTN) as an emergency procedure. A nephrostogram showed multiple lucent stones and a single opaque calculus in the renal pelvis. The definitive treatment of the mixed calculi was carried out through the PTN. The lucent stones were dissolved by alkaline irrigation and the opaque stone removed by a biliary basket via the dilated tract. The safety and simplicity of PTN as an emergency procedure and its use for definitive treatment with the avoidance of surgery are stressed.