Skeletal muscle biopsies, blood samples, and 24-hour urines, before and after magnesium infusions, were obtained from 12 patients who had undergone jejuno-ileal bypass surgery several years earlier, selected for probable magnesium deficiency on the basis of repeated hypomagnesemia. The patients retained significant amounts of the infused magnesium, and exhibited elevation of low skeletal muscle magnesium and potassium, with concomitant decreases of muscle sodium and chloride. These changes were accompanied by increased urinary calcium and sodium and decreased urinary phosphorus excretion.