Unusual suspects of secondary diabetes and growth retardation: Bartter and Gitelman syndrome

Bartter syndrome and Gitelman syndrome are rare autosomal recessive syndromes. In extremely rare cases, GS may diagnosed with growth retardation and diabetes mellitus. In this 3-case series, growth retardation was identified at 17-year follow-up of our dizygotic twin patients diagnosed with BS and glucose metabolism disorder was developed. Whereas, 3 RD . patient diagnosed with GS in adulthood period developed diabetes mellitus after 8 years follow up. Chronic hypopotassemia has been shown to cause diabetes mellitus and growth retardation in several articles. Potassium plays an important role in insulin, IGF-1 and growth hormone cycle. Herein, we aimed to draw attention to that, the presence of chronic hypopotassemia may precipitate to diseases such as growth retardation and diabetes mellitus over time.