Ranadip Chowdhury et al CAN HYPONATRAEMIA PREDICT MORTALITY IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT PATIENTS: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF KOLKATA Int J Med Pharm Sci, March 2013 / Vol 03 (07) Page 26 ijmps Vol 03 issue 07 Section: Healthcare Category: Research Received on: 22/01/13 Revised on: 08/02/13 Accepted on: 21/02/13 CAN HYPONATRAEMIA PREDICT MORTALITY IN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT PATIENTS: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF KOLKATA Ranadip Chowdhury 1 , Tanmay Samanta 2 , Koushik Pan 2 , Anup Sarkar 2 , Subrata Chakrabarti 2 1 Department of Community Medicine, R.G.Kar Medical College, Kolkata, India 2 General Medicine, SSKM, IPGMER, Kolkata, India E-mail of Corresponding Author: ranadip84@gmail.com ABSTRACT Background of study: Hyponatraemia is a commonly encountered plasma electrolyte abnormality. As aggressive or inappropriate therapy of hyponatraemia can be more harmful than the condition itself, clinicians should be familiar with the diagnosis and management of various forms of hyponatraemia. Objective: To assess the socio-clinical profile of the patients admitted in the Intensive care unit with hyponatraemia & to assess predictors of mortality in the study population Research Methodology: This prospective observational study was done in the Intensive care unit of SSKM Hospital / IPGME&R, Kolkata during April 2011 to March 2012 among the patients having serum sodium level less than135 mmol/l. The data were collected on predesigned questionnaires which include age, gender, clinical findings, complications and laboratory tests. SPSS 16.0 version was used for statistical analysis Results: Males are more commonly affected than females. Chronic liver disease is most common underlying condition associated with hyponatraemia. On multivariate logistic regression analysis serum sodium was found to be statistically significant predictor for mortality (as p value < 0.05). Conclusion: Hyponatraemia could predict the mortality in intensive care unit patients, so proper emphasis should be given to address the situation Keywords: Hyponatraemia, mortality, logistic regression INTRODUCTION Plasma sodium concentration <135 mmol/litre is defined as hyponatraemia. Plasma sodium concentration when falls below 125mmol / litre it is called as severe hyponatraemia. Hyponatraemic encephalopathy is defined as central nervous system dysfunction secondary to hyponatraemia. Hyponatraemia is a common disorder that occurs in both the out-patient and in-patient setting. Hyponatraemia is a commonly encountered electrolyte abnormality, occurring in up to 22% of hospitalised patients with a daily incidence and prevalence rates of 0.97% and 2.48% respectively. 1,2 Acute or symptomatic hyponatraemia can lead to significant rates of morbidity and mortality. 3,4 Mortality rates as high as 17.9 percent have been quoted, but this extreme rate usually occur in the context of hospitalized patients. 5 Morbidity also can result from rapid correction of hyponatremia. 6,7 It is also associated with 60-fold increase in morbidity and mortality compared with patients without documented hyponatraemia. 8 Hyponatraemia can be classified according to the volume status of the patient as hypovolemic, hypervolemic, or euvolemic. Hypervolemic hyponatraemia may be caused by congestive heart failure, liver cirrhosis, and renal disease. Differentiating between