• Anna Giulia Falchi, Camilla Mascolo, Vincenzo Sepe, Carmelo Libetta, Elisa Bonadeo, Riccardo Albertini, Federica Manzoni, and Stefano Perlini.
• Emergency Department, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Foundation, Pavia, Italy. a.falchi@smatteo.pv.it.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Feb 1; 192 (1): 389393389-393.

BackgroundHyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder and it has been associated with increased mortality.AimsThis study evaluated hyponatremia as a prognostic factor for severity and mortality.MethodsWe compared the prevalence of hyponatremia among patients who died during the year 2017 (from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017) with the prevalence of hyponatremia among subgroups of patients, i.e. outpatients, patients hospitalized for more than 2 days and patients admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU). We also described the mortality rate and the prevalence of comorbidities among hyponatremic patients, according to hyponatremia degree (slight, moderate, severe), basal characteristics, comorbidities and their outcome (discharged, hospitalized or died).ResultsIn our population of a public hospital setting, hyponatremia was present at admission in 17% of deaths, and the comparison between hyponatremic and normonatremic patients in terms of mortality confirms the hypothesis that this disorder is in anyway strictly associated with vulnerability and with a poor prognosis.ConclusionsWe conclude that hyponatremia is a predictive marker for a bad clinical course, therefore patients with this electrolyte disorder should be carefully monitored.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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