Tubular Injury (TI)

Severe hypokalaemia is occasionally associated with gross changes in renal tubular function. Repeated measurements during treatment with potassium supplements showed that the tubular damage resolved in some patients but more slowly than the hypokalemia. These results demonstrate that renal tubular damage is common amongst patients with hypokalaemia and is probably a consequence of the hypokalaemia in most of them. The measurements allow detection of patients whose tissues (at least the kidney) are adversely affected by the hypokalaemia, but the clinical usefulness of this information is yet to be established.