A Bartter-like syndrome after jejunoileal bypass for obesity

A case of an adult woman with a Bartter-like syndrome after jejunoileal bypass for obesity is described. Diarrhoea, hypokalaemia, high plasma renin activity, hyperaldosteronism, alkalosis, increased urinary prostaglandin E and hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular apparatus with low or normal blood pressure were the major features. After corrective surgery the values turned only transiently towards normal, despite permanent disappearance of the diarrhoea. Spironolactone, amiloride or propranolol had no real effect on clinical symptoms or biochemical aberrations. Indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, normalized most of the aberrations, but--inexplicably--not the prostaglandinuria.