The Impact of Hyponatremia on Severity of Decompensated Chronic Liver Disease

Abstract

Introduction: Hyponatremia in cirrhosis is low sodium concentration in the blood. It has been additionally reported that hyponatremia occurs when serum sodium concentration in the blood is less than 135mmol/L, with severe hyponatremia being below 120 mmol/L. In general, two kinds of hyponatremia may be found in patients with cirrhosis, such as hypovolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia. Complications may arise in case of correcting hyponatremia too quickly. The study aims to investigate the impact of hyponatremia on the severity of decompensated chronic liver disease. Methods: A Prospective cross-sectional study was carried out Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shabagh, Dhaka, from March 2014 to February 2015. A total of 100 patients (N=100) for one year were enrolled in this study following the inclusive criteria. Data were collected using the predesigned semi-structured questionnaire. Verbal consent was taken before recruiting the study population. Completed data forms were reviewed, edited, and processed for computer data entry. Result: Among hundred patients (N=100) with decompensated chronic liver disease observe the impact of hyponatremia with the severity of complications. Of them, it was observed that more than one-third of the patients (37, 37.0%) belonged to age 31-40 years. The mean age was found 42.2±SD years. It was observed that almost two-thirds of the patients (63, 63.0%) were male and thirty-seven (37,37.0%) patients were female. Among the study population, the majority of the patients (90, 90.0%) belonged to serum sodium ≤135 mmol/l (Hyponatremia). The mean serum sodium was found 124.7±SD mmol/l. The majority of patients (57,57.0%) had moderate ascites, nineteen patients (19,19.0%) had mild and about one-fourth of the patients (24,24.0%) had severe ascites. Conclusion: Hyponatraemia should be accomplished by dipping diuretics and increasing the plasma volume with fluid resuscitation.