[Liddle's syndrome: late diagnosis of a rare cause of arterial hypertension].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of a rare disease that causes severe arterial hypertension in children. It is important to advise pediatricians to measure arterial pressure in children in order to avoid late diagnosis and renal insufficiency.


METHODS
We report a case of a 13-year-old patient that presented typical clinical and laboratorial features of Liddle's syndrome. The diagnosis was established based on the clinical picture associated with the presence of chronic hypokalemia, increase of urinary potassium excretion with sodium retention and reduction of renin plasma activity, and circulating levels of angiotensin II and aldosterone. In a spite of the initial therapeutic response to triamterene, the patient developed progressive renal failure due to the delay in the diagnosis and the poorly controlled hypertension.


CONCLUSIONS
Liddle's syndrome consists of a form of pseudoaldosteronism characterized by arterial hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis and failure to thrive. Some aspects regarding physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment are discussed.
Simões e Silva
Ana Cristina
AC
Departamento de Pediatria, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG.
Oliveira
Eduardo A
EA
Gomes
Camila Romano
CR
Lima
Flávio Souza
FS
Diniz
José S S
JS