Transient hyperoxaluria in a patient with inherited distal renal tubular acidosis

Our observation confirms that hyperoxaluria can be associated with primary dRTA. The explanation of this phenomenon is probably increased intestinal absorption of oxalate in the absence of an intestinal oxalate-degrading bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes. Since our patient’s hyperoxaluria has been transient, it is possible to speculate that at the first investigation, which revealed hyperoxaluria, the bacterium was absent in the stool; subsequently, the gut colonization of the Oxalobacter formigenes normalized the oxalate urinary excretion. Our study underlines the importance of molecular investigation in those patients who manifest confusing findings, in order to settle the clinical origin of hyperoxaluria.