CHARACTERIZATION OF HYPONATREMIA IN PATIENTS WITH ISCHEMIC STROKE

Objective: To characterize the hyponatremia based on severity in patients with ischemic stroke in the first twenty-four hours. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done in the Medicine Department of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, after obtaining approval from IREB. For a proportion of 25% population with mild hyponatremia, a sample of 289 was calculated using Open EPI Software keeping 95% as the confidence interval and 5% as the margin of error. We included all adult patients from age 16 years of either gender, having newly diagnosed ischemic stroke and yet had not started any treatment. Patients having other chronic diseases and endocrine disorders which can cause electrolyte disturbances, and act as confounders, were excluded. A Non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used. All data including name, age, gender, address, and the presence or absence of and the severity of hyponatremia was recorded. Data was analyzed using SPSS-22. Results: The mean age of the patients was 53 years with SD ± 8.53 (range 40-69 years). Male patients were 56.1% while 43.9% were females. Out of 289 patients, 101 (35%) patients had hyponatremia. Amongst these patients having hyponatremia, mild hyponatremia was present in 63 (62%), moderate hyponatremia in 27 (27%) and profound or severe hyponatremia was present in 11 (11%). Conclusion: Hyponatremia was present in about 1/3rd of patients who presented with ischemic stroke in our hospital. Among these, severe hyponatremia was seen in 11% of the patients. Keywords: Hyponatremia, ischemic stroke.