Hypercalcemia, hypertension and acute renal insufficiency in an immobilized adolescent

Immobilization hypercalcemia was initially described by Albright in 1941, and has most often been noted in adolescent males, presumably because their high rates of skeletal growth increase the likelihood that alterations in the equilibrium between bone deposition and resorption will have clinically apparent effects. The etiology of immobilization hypercalcemia is controversial, but is thought to result from normal levels of PTH acting with increased activity in the abnormal environment of immobilized bone. We describe a patient, immobilized following the resection of a large, locally invasive tumor, who developed hypercalcemia in conjunction with renal insufficiency and hypertension. The pathophysiology of immobilization hypercalcemia is discussed, as are the potential contributions of renal feedback mechanisms to the patient's hypertension and renal insufficiency.