David T. Breault

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has hyponatremia? What are the typical findings for this disease? Hyponatremia (serum sodium concentration <130 mEq/L) in children most commonly results from severe dehydration, sodium depletion, or excessive administration of hypotonic fluids (especially in infancy). In contrast, the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone…

OVERVIEW: What every practitioner needs to know Are you sure your patient has hypernatremia/diabetes insipidus? What are the typical findings for this disease? Diabetes insipidus (DI) presents clinically as pathologic polyuria and polydipsia and if volume depletion is present, serum sodium is greater than145 mEq/L and serum osmolality is greater than 300 mOsm/kg. Infants often…