Distal renal tubular acidosis in hepatic cirrhosis: clinical and pathogenetic study.

The mechanism of the renal tubular acidosis (RTA) occurring in patients with hepatic cirrhosis remains uncertain although it has been suggested that renal and intrarenal hemodynamic alterations could play a role in its pathogenesis. To verify this hypothesis, renal acidification was studied with an intravenous acid load of arginine hydrochloride in 51 patients with cirrhosis due to various causes. In 22 patients renal and intrarenal blood flow was also measured using the 133-Xe washout technique. RTA was found in 17 of 51 patients (33%) with the greatest incidence in alcoholic cirrhosis. The tubular defect did not appear related either to the degree of liver functional impairment or to the renal and intrarenal hemodynamic alterations.