Implications of Hyponatremia in Liver Transplantation

Sertac Cimen; Sanem Guler; Subhashini Ayloo; Michele Molinari

doi:10.3390/jcm4010066

Implications of Hyponatremia in Liver Transplantation

J Clin Med. 2014 Dec 29;4(1):66-74. doi: 10.3390/jcm4010066.

Authors

Sertac Cimen¹, Sanem Guler², Subhashini Ayloo³, Michele Molinari⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery and Community Health, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, B3H 2Y9, NS, Canada. sertaccimen@yahoo.com.
² Department of Surgery and Community Health, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, B3H 2Y9, NS, Canada. gulersanem@yahoo.com.
³ Department of Surgery and Community Health, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, B3H 2Y9, NS, Canada. drsayloo@gmail.com.
⁴ Department of Surgery and Community Health, Dalhousie University, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, B3H 2Y9, NS, Canada. michele.molinari@cdha.nshealth.ca.

Abstract

Although there are a limited number of quality studies, appropriate peri-operative management of serum electrolytes seems to reduce adverse outcomes in liver transplantation. Hyponatremia is defined as the presence of serum concentration of sodium equal ≤130 mmol/L and it is detected in approximately 20% of patients with end stage liver disease waiting for a liver transplant (LT). This paper will focus on the pathogenesis of dilutional hyponatremia and its significance in terms of both candidacy for LT and post-operative outcomes.

Keywords: cirrhosis; hyponatremia; liver transplantation; sodium.