Neo-Mull-Soy metabolic alkalosis: a model of Bartter's syndrome?

A case of Neo-Mull-Soy-induced metabolic alkalosis occurred in an 8-month-old child. This child had hypochloremic hypokalemic alkalosis as well as hyperreninemia. Initially, a diagnosis of Bartter's syndrome was made and treatment consisted of KCl replacement, indomethacin, and aspirin. In retrospect, the diagnosis of Neo-Mull-Soy induced metabolic alkalosis could have been suspected on the basis of the low chloride concentration in his urine. Proposed mechanisms for the etiology of Bartter's syndrome are reviewed. Neo-Mull-Soy induced metabolic alkalosis simulates Bartter's syndrome and supports the concept that the primary abnormality in Bartter's syndrome is chloride deficiency. The chloride deficiency in Bartter's syndrome results from a defect in active chloride transport in the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle.