Hyponatremia due to severe primary hypothyroidism in an infant

Hyponatremia has been reported in the elderly with hypothyroidism and myxedema, but this has not been a universal finding in clinical studies and there have been only a few reports in children. We report a case of an infant that developed hyponatremia due to severe primary hypothyroidism. A 4-month-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michael L Moritz, Ingrid eLibman, Nickolas T Agathis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Pediatrics
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Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fped.2015.00096/full
Description
Summary:Hyponatremia has been reported in the elderly with hypothyroidism and myxedema, but this has not been a universal finding in clinical studies and there have been only a few reports in children. We report a case of an infant that developed hyponatremia due to severe primary hypothyroidism. A 4-month-old male, who had been euthyroid on the newborn screen, developed unexplained hospital-acquired hyponatremia (serum Na 124/mEq/L) while on full oral feeds. He was euvolemic, appeared well and was without myxedema. An evaluation of hyponatremia was negative with the exception of severe primary hypothyroidism (TSH 315.4 IU/ml, repeat 540 IU/ml). The hyponatremia resolved with thyroxine supplementation. This case demonstrates that severe hypothyroidism can result in hyponatremia in infants. It is critical to consider hypothyroidism in the evaluation of an infant with unexplained hyponatremia as untreated hypothyroidism can lead to profound developmental delays.
ISSN:2296-2360