Publication:

Prevalence of hyponatremia in pulmonary tuberculosis

Background Tuberculosis is one of the most common infection in India and is associated with high mortality. India ranks 14th out of top 22 countries who are burdened with TB infections.

Methods It is a prospective study after getting the ethical committee clearance from the institute. The patients admitted to Chest and TB, Medicine Department of SLN medical college and Hospital, Koraput, Odisha from Jan 2019 to December 2019 with pulmonary tuberculosis were included in the study.

Results A total of 65 adult patients with active PTB were included in this study with age ranging from 15 to 69 years. The mean age of patients was 38.80 + 15.03 years. The total mean serum sodium levels among the subjects was 135.5+7.23. Among 65 patients, 26 (40%) patients had low sodium levels which was less than 135mmol/l out of which 21 (42%) were males and 5 (33%) were females. In all the groups of hyponatremias, majority were found to be males when compared to the females in their respective groups.

Conclusions Hence patients with PTB have to be evaluated for hyponatremia as early detection and treatment of underlying electrolyte abnormality can potentially reduce mortality and morbidity associated with tuberculosis and also can shorten the duration of hospitalization.