Department of Pediatrics, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19134-1095, USA.
Renal salt wasting secondary to 11-beta-hydroxylase deficiency (11-beta-OHD) has been described in a few patients. This report describes an infant with 11-beta-OHD initially thought to be in adrenal crisis with renal salt wasting. Subsequently the sodium loss was found to be due to a secretory diarrhea, and this prompted us to critically review the literature of the previous case reports. In none has the entity of renal salt wasting secondary to 11-beta-OHD been unequivocally confirmed. The entity should remain in doubt until proven by appropriate studies in the future.