Electrolyte Blood Press.  2016 Dec;14(2):27-30. 10.5049/EBP.2016.14.2.27.

Severe Hypernatremia Caused by Acute Exogenous Salt Intake Combined with Primary Hypothyroidism

• Jung WJ
• Park SM
• Park JM
• Rhee H
• Kim IY
• Lee DW
• Lee SB
• Seong EY
• Kwak IS
• Song SH

• KMID: 2369608
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5049/EBP.2016.14.2.27

Abstract

This report describes a case of severe hypernatremia with a serum sodium concentration of 188.1mmol/L caused by exogenous salt intake. A 26-year-old man diagnosed with Crohn's disease 5 years previously visited our clinic due to generalized edema and personality changes, with aggressive behavior. He had compulsively consumed salts, ingesting approximately 154 g of salt over the last 4 days. Despite careful fluid management that included not only hypotonic fluid therapy for 8 hours but also hypertonic saline administration, his serum sodium level decreased sharply at 40.6 mmol/L; however, it returned to normal within 72-hour of treatment without any neurological deficits. Primary hypothyroidism was also diagnosed. He was discharged after 9 days from admission, with a stable serum sodium level. We have described the possibility of successful treatment in a patient with hypernatremia caused by acute salt intoxication without sustained hypotonic fluid therapy.

Keyword

Hypernatremia; Salt; Primary hypothyroidism; Crohn's disease

MeSH Terms

Adult
Crohn Disease
Edema
Fluid Therapy
Humans
Hypernatremia*
Hypothyroidism*
Salts
Sodium
Salts
Sodium

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Clinical course of the patient's serum sodium concentration and fluid treatment.

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