Milk-Alkali Syndrome: A Forgotten Cause of Metabolic Alkalosis

The milk-alkali syndrome is triad of hypercalcemia, metabolic alkalosis, and acute kidney injury associated with the ingestion of large amounts of calcium and alkali. The syndrome was originally described in association with the use of milk and sodium bicarbonate for the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. Once was a classic cause of hypercalcemia, milk-alkali syndrome is now the third leading cause after hyperparathyroidism and malignancy. This is attributed to the development of proton pump inhibitors, antihistamines, and other modalities of treatment for peptic ulcer disease. J Med Cases. 2018;9(5):145-146 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc3048e