Fatal Hypernatraemia after a Saline Emetic

Fatal outcome from administration of a salt emetic.

Introduction The first recorded case of death from salt poisoning was in the London Courier October 1 1828. 'A man proposed to some of his comrades to sup a pound of common salt in a pint of ale'. Soon after accomplishing his feat 'he was seized with all the symptoms of irritant poisoning and died within twenty-four hours'. Accidental poisoning with sodium chloride in infants and young children...

Hypernatraemia after treatment of hydatid.

Hypernatraemia in hospital populations.

Severe hypernatraemia in a very preterm infant.

Hypernatraemia in very low birth weight babies has been well documented and is usually attributable to excessive insensible water loss. We report a case in which, despite a peak serum sodium concentration of 204 mmol/l, the baby survived without morbidity. Treatment was simply to increase the intake of free water in Dextrose.

Serious hypernatraemia in a hospital population.

Severe hypernatraemia in a hospital population should be an avoidable problem. We have looked at its causes and incidence over one year and have shown that serious hypernatraemia (serum sodium greater than 160 mmol/l) as a manifestation of severe dehydration is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Failure to maintain adequate fluid intake, intentional or unintentional, was the most f...