Familial hypomagnesaemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis: the first four patients in Serbia

Familial hypomagnesaemia with hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis (FHHNC) is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by excessive renal magnesium and calcium wasting, bilateral nehrocalcinosis and progressive renal failure. This is the first report of FHHNC of four patients in Serbia.

The first three patients were siblings from the same family. The index case, a 9-year-old girl, presented with severe growth retardation, polyuria and polydipsia, while her brothers, 11 and 7 years old, were disclosed during family member screening. The father had a urolithiasis when aged 18 years, while intermittent microhaematuria and bilateral microlithiasis persisted later on. The fourth patient, a 16-year-old boy with sporadic FHHNC was discovered to have increased proteinuria at routine examination of urine before registration for secondary school. He was well grown up, normotensive, but had moderate renal failure (CKD 3 stage), mild hypomagnesaemia and severe hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis. Beside typical clinical and biochemical data, the diagnosis of FHHNC was confirmed by mutation analysis of the CLDN16 gene; in all four affected individuals a homozygous CLDN16 mutation (Leu151Phe) was found. Treatment with magnesium supplementation resulted in the normalization of serum magnesium levels only in one patient (patient 4), but hypercalciuria persisted and renal failure progressed in all patients.

FHHNC is a rare cause of chronic renal failure. The first four patients with FHHNC in Serbia have been here described. The diagnosis of FHNNC based on the findings of nephrocalcinosis with hypomagnesiaemia and hypercalciuria, was confirmed by homozygous paracellin1-mutation exhibiting a Leu151Phe.