Loading...
Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS), a potentially devastating condition, is associated with rapid overcorrection of hyponatremia and usually results in permanent neurological injury. Given the frequency of hyponatremia, how concerned should clinicians be when correcting serum sodium levels? Researchers in Toronto performed a cohort study of 22,000 adult general internal medicine patients (mean age, 68) who presented with serum sodium levels <130 mmol/L (patients with blood glucose >450 mg/dL were excluded). ODS was identified by neuroimaging results and the medical record.
Mean initial serum sodium level was 125 mmol/L; serum sodium level was 110 to 119 mmol/L in 12% of patients, and <110 mmol/L in 1%. Overall, rapid correction of serum so…