Survival in a patient with severe paraneoplastic hyponatremia: a case report

Hyponatremia is a common and potentially life threatening problem in patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Case Presentation: A 54-year-old female with a history of smoking and narcotic dependency presented to her primary care physician with nausea, vomiting, fatigue, malaise, ataxia and a serum sodium of 100 mEq/L.

A chest computerized tomography (CT) revealed a 4.1 X 4.9 cm precarinal/pretracheal mass encircling the right brachiocephalic vein. A mediastinal biopsy found a malignant, intermediate-size Small cell (oat cell) carcinoma.

Saline infusion along with intravenous furosemide successfully corrected her hyponatremia. Unfortunately, the patient later died of complications related to her cancer and therapy.

Conclusions: Paraneoplastic hyponatremia can be severe, but even severe cases may be successfully treated.

Author: Gary V Walker and Michael C Peterson
Credits/Source: Cases Journal 2008, 1:248

Published on: 2008-10-17

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