Hysterical polydipsia (compulsive water drinking) in children
B. Kohn, M. E. Norman, H. Feldman, S. O. Thier and I. Singer
Two patients had entirely different clinical presentations of hysterical
polydipsia: convulsions and coma in a 5-year-old boy with intrinsic renal
disease and a single kidney, and abnormal behavior in a 3-year-old girl
with normal kidneys. In neither case was the correct diagnosis made on
initial evaluation. Physiological studies demonstrated primary polydipsia
to be responsible for both clinical presentations. The differential
diagnosis of polydipsia and polyuria is reviewed, and the nonuniform
presentation of hysterical polydipsia is emphasized. In children with
intrinsic renal disease, hysterical polydipsia may be life-threatening.
