The syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH) is a common cause of hyponatremia. The syndrome manifests as an inability to excrete a free water load, with inappropriately concentrated urine and resultant hyponatremia, hypoosmolality, and natriuresis. SIADH occurs in a setting of normal blood volume, without evidence of renal disease or deficiency of thyroxine or cortisol. Although usually transient, SIADH may be chronic; it is often associated with drug use or a lesion in the central nervous system or lung. When the cardinal features of SIADH were defined by Bartter and Schwartz (1967), levels of AVP could not be measured. Subsequently, radioimmunoassays revealed that SIADH is usually associated with measurably elevated serum levels of AVP. Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (NSIAD) is characterized by a clinical picture similar to SIADH, but is associated with undetectable levels of AVP (Feldman et al., 2005).

Cystinosis comprises three allelic phenotypes: Nephropathic cystinosis in untreated children is characterized by renal Fanconi syndrome, poor growth, hypophosphatemic/calcipenic rickets, impaired glomerular function resulting in complete glomerular failure, and accumulation of cystine in almost all cells, leading to cellular dysfunction with tissue and organ impairment. The typical untreated child has short stature, rickets, and photophobia. Failure to thrive is generally noticed after approximately age six months; signs of renal tubular Fanconi syndrome (polyuria, polydipsia, dehydration, and acidosis) appear as early as age six months; corneal crystals can be present before age one year and are always present after age 16 months. Prior to the use of renal transplantation and cystine-depleting therapy, the life span in nephropathic cystinosis was no longer than ten years. With these interventions, affected individuals can survive at least into the mid-forties or fifties with satisfactory quality of life. Intermediate cystinosis is characterized by all the typical manifestations of nephropathic cystinosis, but onset is at a later age. Renal glomerular failure occurs in all untreated affected individuals, usually between ages 15 and 25 years. The non-nephropathic (ocular) form of cystinosis is characterized clinically only by photophobia resulting from corneal cystine crystal accumulation.