Main Entry: Bart·ter's syndrome

Pronunciation: \ˈbärt-ərz-\

Function: noun

: a kidney disorder that usually first appears during childhood and is characterized especially by hypokalemia, aldosteronism, hyperreninemia, and juxtaglomerular cell hyperplasia

Bartter, Frederic Crosby (1914–1983), American physiologist. Bartter's numerous medical positions included those of chief of the clinical endocrinology branch of the National Heart Institute; professor of pediatrics at Howard University and of medicine at Georgetown University, both in Washington, D.C.; associate chief of staff for research at Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center, both in San Antonio. In the course of his career he contributed over 300 articles on endocrinology and physiology. His areas of research included the physiology of the adrenal and parathyroid glands, especially the production of aldosterone. Besides describing the syndrome that now bears his name, he also described a syndrome marked by inappropriate antidiuretic hormone production, and he defined the biochemical basis of Cushing's syndrome.