FREQUENCY OF HYPONATREMIA IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENTS PRESENTING AT COMBINED MILITARY HOSPITAL PESHAWAR

Objective: To determine the frequency of hyponatremia in acute cerebrovascular accidents and explore the relationship of hyponatremia with age, gender, type, and duration of cerebrovascular accidents. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Internal Medicine, Combined Military Hospital Peshawar, from Dec 2016 to Jun 2017. Methodology: In this study, a total of 127 patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents i.e. within 12 hours of onset were enrolled. Serum sodium levels were evaluated at the initial presentation of the patient at the emergency department after confirmation of cerebrovascular accidents following clinical evaluation and computed tomography scan of brain without contrast. Results: In this study, the mean age was 46 ± 8.7 years. Seventy-four (58%) patients were males while 53 (42%) patients were females. Eighty-six (68%) patients had ischemic cerebrovascular accidents while 41 (32%) patients had hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accidents. Thirty-eight (30%) patients had hyponatremia. Stratification of hyponatremia with age, gender, duration of cerebrovascular accidents, and the type of cerebrovascular accidents showed statistically insignificant correlation with p-value >0.05. Conclusion: The frequency of hyponatremia in our cohort of acute cerebrovascular accidents patients was 30%. There was no association between hyponatremia and age, gender, type, or duration of cerebrovascular accidents. Monitoring of serum sodium levels must be done in all patients who are admitted with a cerebrovascular accidents