Rhabdomyolysis: two pediatric case reports
Goldsmith, B.M.; Hicks, J.M.
Clinical Chemistry 31(2): 314-317
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9147 PMID: 3967373 Document Number: 256411
We report two pediatric cases of rhabdomyolysis. This disease involves the destruction of skeletal muscle, which can present with myalgia and a brown-pigmented urine. The first patient presented with acute renal failure, hypertension, and hyponatremia. The second patient was pyrexic, hypernatremic, and hypokalemic, and later developed hypertension. Evidence of rhabdomyolysis in both patients included dark, o-tolidine-positive urine, granular casts in the urinary sediment, and grossly increased activities of creatine kinase (greater than 60 000 U/L) in serum. An uncommonly recognized entity in the pediatric age group, rhabdomyolysis often presents as an acute disease with severe onset but can be diagnosed with relatively simple laboratory tests.