Clinical and laboratory characteristics of hypernatraemia in an internal medicine clinic

Abstract

Background. Hypernatraemia is a frequent electrolyte disorder in hospitalized patients that has been mainly studied in an entire hospital population. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, concomitant electrolyte abnormalities and outcome of hypernatraemia in an internal medicine clinic. Also, we sought to identify differences between patients who were admitted with hypernatraemia and those who developed hypernatraemia during hospitalization.