NEPHROGENIC DIABETES INSIPIDUS: TRANS- MITTED BY FEMALES AND APPEARING DURING INFANCY IN MALES *

T H I S paper reports an unusual type of diabetes insipidus. This entity has most likely existed before, but we have not found any evidence of its recognition as such. Before discussing the characteristics of the syndrome, a presentation of our studies is given, chiefly in the order that they were conducted. Patient C. H. A physician, aged 35, was recently admitted to the Boston City Hospital with pneumonia. His past health had been good, but he stated that he had had diabetes insipidus since infancy. In the course of treating the pneumonia with sulfadiazine it was observed that the concentration of this compound in the blood was unusually high in spite of a daily urine volume of about 12 liters. This observation and the fact that several members of the family had had diabetes insipidus since child-hood aroused special interest. This patient, like six others in five generations of his family, was told that he was a "water baby. " When he was one month of age, or younger, his parents noticed that he desired excessive amounts of fluid and that he had a large urine volume. I