Abstract
Abstract Background and Aims Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients and has a poor prognosis leading to an increased risk of poor quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Although the prevalence and prognosis of hyponatremia in advanced liver disease such as liver cirrhosis are well known, no previous studies have been conducted on the prevalence of hyponatremia in early liver disease or alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and prognosis of hyponatremia in ALD group. Method We performed a retrospective, single centre study of patients admitted to the hepatology department from March 2016 to December 2022. Adults aged 18 years or older were included, and patients with liver cirrhosis, one of the common causes of hyponatremia, were excluded from the study. Based on the electronic medical records, the study was conducted by dividing the ALD group including alcoholic hepatitis and heavy alcoholics into a control group. Results A total of 830 patients were included, hyponatremia (under 135 mmol/L) occurred in 32.2%, and the ALD group showed a significantly higher prevalence than the control group (53.8% vs. 28.6, p<0.001). In addition, the ALD group was statistically significantly higher than the control group in mortality at hospitalization (8.4% vs. 3.9%, p = 0.031) and all-cause mortality (22.7% vs. 12.1%, p = 0.002). The length of hospital stay was significantly longer (13.5±10.9 vs. 10.5±9.1, p = 0.006), and the readmission rate was also higher in the ALD group (39.5% vs. 22.5%, p < 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed significantly higher overall survival in the control group than the ALD group (87.9% vs. 77.3% p = 0.002). Conclusion Our study shows that ALD has a higher incidence rate of hyponatremia, which is followed by a poor prognosis, such as an increase in readmission rates, length of hospitalization, and mortality. Therefore, clinicians should realize the importance of electrolyte imbalance in ALD patients and strive to improve prognosis through early and appropriate treatment.
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