Hyponatremia during hospitalization and in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized from heart failure

To date, the majority of studies on hyponatremia focussed on hyponatremia at admission, and came from developed countries. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of hyponatremia during hospitalization in patients hospitalized for HF and its association with in-hospital mortality.

This was an observational study using retrospective data from patients’ records between 2010–2013. It focused on those patients carrying an ICD-10 code of 150.0(Congestive Heart Failure) as their primary diagnosis.

Hyponatremia during hospitalization was defined as serum sodium level lower than 135 mEq/L obtained from a blood chemistry measurement on the next days after admission. Patients’ characteristics were examined and the association between hyponatremia during hospitalization and in-hospital mortality was analyzed.

Among 464 patients hospitalized for HF, hyponatremia during hospitalization was observed in 22 % of patients with 44 % of this group had normal serum sodium level on admission.

Hyponatremia during hospitalization was associated with lower blood pressure on admission, both systolic and diastolic, peripheral oedema, ascites and fatigue. Patients having history of hospitalization for cardiac diseases and renal failure were higher in patients developing hyponatremia during hospitalization. In this group, amiodarone, heparin, insulin and antibiotics were administered more frequently. Factors potentially increase the risk of hyponatremia during hospitalization include history of fatigue (OR = 3.23, 95 % CI 1.79–5.82), presence of ascites (4.14, 1.84–9.31), and administration of heparin (3.85, 1.78–8.31) and antibiotics (3.08, 1.71–5.53). Length of hospital stay was significantly longer in patients with hyponatremia during hospitalization and in-hospital mortality was also higher compared to non-hyponatremic patients, 7.7 % and 29.1 %, respectively.

This study found that the prevalence of hyponatremia during hospitalization in patients hospitalized for HF was almost the same as hyponatremia on admission and administration of heparin and antibiotics can potentially worsen hyponatremia during hospitalization. In this study population, hyponatremia during hospitalization was found to be associated with in-hospital mortality.