LETTER
Hypernatremia in Hospitalized Patients
Michael L. Moritz, MD
15 November 1996 | Volume 125 Issue 10 | Page 860
TO THE EDITOR:
Palevsky and colleagues point out that hospital-acquired hypernatremia is largely attributable to the inappropriate prescription of fluids, but they fail to show whether this leads to increased morbidity and mortality [1]. They openly state that no mortality was directly associated with hypernatremia. They claim that hypernatremia partially contributed to the death of 16% of patients and to decreased functional status at discharge in 14%; however, they provide no details on the manner in which hypernatremia contributed to these outcomes or which patients are most at risk. They also do not mention whether any patient with delayed recognition and treatment had increased morbidity or mortality.
It would be helpful if the authors could compare the morbidity and mortality associated with hypernatremia between the group that had inappropriate fluid management and the group that had appropriate fluid management.
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Author and Article Information
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Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX 77030-2399.
1. Palevsky PM, Bhagrath R, Greenberg A. Hypernatremia in hospitalized patients. Ann Intern Med. 1996; 124:197-203.
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