CLINICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WATER 

 AND ELECTROLYTE METABOLISM 

 PECULIAR TO INFANCY 



E. Kerpel-Fronius* 



Department of Paediatrics, University of Pecs, Hungary 



Disturbances in the volume and composition of the body 

 fluids occur more frequently in infancy than at other ages. 

 Among the reasons for this are : 



(1) The high incidence of diarrhoea, malnutrition, and 

 certain congenital defects. 



Diarrhoea is still one of the paediatrician's major concerns, 

 one of its main causes being colon bacilli, pathogenic only for 

 this age group. 



Owing to their high caloric and protein requirements 

 infants easily succumb to malnutrition, which progresses 

 rapidly. The resulting expansion of the volume of their extra- 

 cellular body fluids, sometimes accompanied by asympto- 

 matic hyponatraemia, is a common disturbance of homeostasis 

 in some countries. 



Congenital defects of the oesophagus, the pylorus, the 

 renal tubules, the adrenals, and the central nervous system 

 may also cause serious disturbances in the body fluids ; their 

 discussion is beyond the scope of this paper. 



(2) Circulation, metabolism and renal excretion are all 

 maintained at high levels relative to the volume of the body 

 fluids. 



(3) When growth is arrested by disturbances which 

 diminish the utilization of food, a fraction of the intake 

 normally retained is rejected, thus raising the solute load on 

 the kidneys. 



* In the absence of Prof. Kerpel-Fronius, his paper was read for him by 

 Dr. Winifred Young. 



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