[Idiopathic cyclic edema: disorders in water elimination accentuated by orthostasis]

Forty patients suffering from idiopathic oedema were studied. The disturbance in water excretion is characterised by a delay in excretion of a water load (20 ml/kg body weight), an inability to decrease urinary osmolarity below 137 mOsm/1 standing (normal: 60 mOsm +/- 25) and an inability to increase free water clearance: 2.36 +/- 2 ml/mn/1. 73 m2 (normal value: 6.8 ml/mn/1.73 m2) in the upright position. This problem of water excretion related to orthostasis defines and characterises the syndrome, the clinical picture of which is well known. The disturbance suggest a fault in the regulation of anti-diuretic hormone whilst the aldosteronism often described would seem to be inconstant and secondary to diuretic therapy too often prescribed without supervision.