Hyperkalaemia induced by carbonic anhydrase inhibitor.

An 81-year-old man developed hyperkalaemic and hyperchloraemic metabolic acidosis following treatment with a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor for his glaucoma. He had mild renal failure and selective aldosterone deficiency was confirmed. In this case the treatment did not lead to hypokalaemia because of the limited potassium secretory capacity in the renal tubules from selective aldosterone deficiency; rather, it may have led to hyperkalaemia because metabolic acidosis induced by the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor caused transcellular movement of potassium.