Relationship between hyponatremia at hospital admission and cardiopulmonary profile at follow-up in patients with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection

Abstract

Purpose Hyponatremia occurs in about 30% of patients with pneumonia, including those with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection. Hyponatremia predicts a worse outcome in several pathologic conditions and in COVID-19 has been associated with a higher risk of non-invasive ventilation, ICU transfer and death. The main objective of this study was to determine whether early hyponatremia is also a predictor of long-term sequelae at follow-up. Methods In this observational study, we collected 6-month follow-up data from 189 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients previously admitted to a University Hospital. About 25% of the patients (n = 47) had hyponatremia at the time of hospital admission. Results Serum [Na+] was significantly increased in the whole group of 189 patients at 6 months, compared to the value at hospital admission (141.4 ± 2.2 vs 137 ± 3.5 mEq/L, p < 0.001). In addition, IL-6 levels decreased and the PaO2/FiO2 increased. Accordingly, pulmonary involvement, evaluated at the chest X-ray by the RALE score, decreased. However, in patients with hyponatremia at hospital admission, higher levels of LDH, fibrinogen, troponin T and NT-ProBNP were detected at follow-up, compared to patients with normonatremia at admission. In addition, hyponatremia at admission was associated with worse echocardiography parameters related to right ventricular function, together with a higher RALE score. Conclusion These results suggest that early hyponatremia in COVID-19 patients is associated with the presence of laboratory and imaging parameters indicating a greater pulmonary and right-sided heart involvement at follow-up.

COVID-19 and outcomes in Chinese peritoneal dialysis patients

“…It occurs in approximately 20-64% of patients with COVID-19. [34][35][36][37][38][39] Previous studies have indicated increased odds of poor outcomes among COVID-19 patients with hyponatremia, and most of them regarded hyponatremia as a bystander factor rather than a risk factor. 38 However, our study found that baseline hyponatremia before infection was associated with worse outcomes, suggesting that hyponatremia may also be a contributor to poor outcomes, at least in the PD population.…”