Recently, we have had occasion to study another case of anomalous edema, characterized by a slowly progressive downward course ending in anasarca, polyserositis, and death. The diagnosis in life was indeterminate despite several months spent in the hospital and innumerable laboratory tests. Clinical studies and autopsy examination excluded all the ordinary causes of edema (diseases of heart, liver, kidneys, and blood) and also more unusual syndromes.
It is thought that this case may represent a new syndrome similar in part to three others previously reported by one of us,1 representing a disease that is the antithesis of diabetes insipidus, characterized by salt and water retention and postulated as possibly due to "hyperpitressinism." If it does, then it represents a fulminating form of the same, and our first autopsy report of such a case.
Report of a Case
A 39-year-old female had noted gradual onset of periorbital, scalp, and ankle edema