Cerebral swelling in severe hyponatremia caused by water intoxication in a schizophrenic patient

A 41-year-old female suffering from water intoxication showing consciousness disturbance with a serum sodium level of 104 mEq/l followed by repeated seizures is reported. She had been treated for 16 years with the drug, chlorpromazine. The computed tomography (CT) showed a bilateral hemispheric swel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCMIG extra. Cases Vol. 28; no. 4; pp. 40 - 45
Main Authors Kurokawa, Y., Ishizaki, E., Inaba, K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 2004
Subjects
Cerebral swelling
Computed tomography
Hyponatremia
Schizophrenia
Water intoxication
Water intoxication
Schizophrenia
Hyponatremia
Computed tomography
Cerebral swelling
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Summary:A 41-year-old female suffering from water intoxication showing consciousness disturbance with a serum sodium level of 104 mEq/l followed by repeated seizures is reported. She had been treated for 16 years with the drug, chlorpromazine. The computed tomography (CT) showed a bilateral hemispheric swelling. This swelling improved after spontaneous urination with an amount of 6700 ml within the first 12 h. We postulate that severe hyponatremia is possibly life-threatening, moreover, it is hardly recognized if the past history or previous prescription record was not known, because the CT appearance is sometimes misinterpreted.
ISSN:1572-3496
1572-3496
DOI:10.1016/j.compmedimag.2004.05.007