Klinefelter's syndrome with renal tubular acidosis: impact on height

A 19-year-old Indian man presented with a history of proximal muscle weakness, knock knees and gynaecomastia. On examination he had features of rickets and bilateral small testes. Karyotyping revealed a chromosomal pattern of 47,XXX, confirming the diagnosis of Klinefelter's syndrome. He was also found to have hyperchloraemic metabolic acidosis with hypokalaemia, hypophosphataemia, phosphaturia and glycosuria, which favoured a diagnosis of proximal renal tubular acidosis. Patients with Klinefelter's syndrome typically have a tall stature due to androgen deficiency, resulting in unfused epiphyses and an additional X chromosome. However, this patient had a short stature due to associated proximal renal tubular acidosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second case of Klinefelter's syndrome with short stature due to associated renal tubular acidosis reported in the literature. This report highlights the need to consider other causes when patients with Klinefelter's syndrome present with a short stature.