Current Management of Hyponatremia in Acute Heart Failure: A Report From the Hyponatremia Registry for Patients With Euvolemic and Hypervolemic Hyponatremia (HN Registry)

• Published in: Journal of the American Heart Association 2017-08, Vol.6 (8), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Dunlap, Mark E., Hauptman, Paul J., Amin, Alpesh N., Chase, Sandra L., Chiodo, Joseph A., Chiong, Jun R., Dasta, Joseph F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; acute heart failure; Adult; Aged; Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists - therapeutic use; Benzazepines - therapeutic use; Combined Modality Therapy - methods; Female; fluid restriction; Fluid Therapy - methods; Heart Failure - complications; Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data; Humans; hypertonic saline; hyponatremia; Hyponatremia - etiology; Hyponatremia - therapy; Male; Middle Aged; Original Research; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data; Registries; saline; Saline Solution, Hypertonic - therapeutic use; sodium; tolvaptan; Treatment Outcome; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance - physiopathology
• ISSN: 2047-9980; 2047-9980
• DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.005261

Background Hyponatremia (HN) occurs commonly in patients with acute heart failure and confers a worse prognosis. Current HN treatment varies widely, with no consensus. This study recorded treatment practices currently used for patients hospitalized with acute heart failure and HN. Methods and Results Data were collected prospectively from 146 US sites on patients hospitalized with acute heart failure and HN (serum sodium concentration [Na+] ≤130 mEq/L) present at admission or developing in the hospital. Baseline variables, HN treatment, and laboratory values were recorded. Of 762 patients, median [Na+] was 126 mEq/L (interquartile range, 7) at baseline and increased to 130 mEq/L at discharge. Fluid restriction was the most commonly prescribed therapy (44%), followed by no specific HN treatment beyond therapy for congestion (23%), isotonic saline (5%), tolvaptan (4%), and hypertonic saline (2%). Median rate of change in [Na+] varied by treatment (0.5 [interquartile range, 1.0] to 2.3 [8.0] mEq/L/d) and median treatment duration ranged from 1 (interquartile range, 1) to 6 (5) days. Fluid restriction and no specific HN treatment resulted in similar changes in [Na+], and were least effective in correcting HN. Few patients (19%) had [Na+] ≥135 mEq/L at discharge. Conclusions The most commonly used treatment approaches for HN (fluid restriction and no specific treatment) in acute heart failure increased [Na+] minimally, and most patients remained hyponatremic at discharge.