Hyponatremia has been shown to predict adverse outcome in congestive heart failure and pneumonia among other common clinical entities, but its significance in the general population is elusive.
Methods
The population-based Copenhagen Holter Study included 671 men and women aged 55 to 75 years with no history of cardiovascular disease, stroke, or cancer. Baseline evaluation included 48-hour ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring, blood tests, and a questionnaire. Hyponatremia was defined as s-Na ≤ 134 mEq/L or s-Na ≤ 137 mEq/L according to previously accepted definitions. An adverse outcome was defined as deaths or myocardial infarction. Median follow-up was 6.3 years.
Results
Fourteen subjects (2.1%, group A) had s-Na ≤ 134 mEq/L, and 62 subjects (9.2%, group B) had s-Na ≤ 137 mEq/L. No subject had s-Na 137mEq/L (controls).
Conclusion
Hyponatremia is an independent predictor of deaths and myocardial infarction in middle-aged and elderly community subjects.
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— Ahmad Sajadieh, MD, DMSc, Zeynep Binici, MD, Mette Rauhe Mouridsen, MD, Olav Wendelboe Nielsen, MD, PhD, DMSc, Jørgen Fischer Hansen, MD, DMSc, Steen B. Haugaard, MD, DMSc
This article was originally published in the July 2009 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
