The arrhythmic danger of hypokalaemia.
A retrospective analysis was carried out of the progress of 152 patients admitted to a coronary care unit in relation to their serum potassium level on entry. The records showed that there was a significantly higher (p less than 0.05) death rate for all admissions and those with a confirmed diagnosis of myocardial infarction when serum potassium levels were lower than 3.6 mmol/l, even though there was no significant difference in total arrhythmias within the groups. There was a similar trend in patients aged 65 years or over.
D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality; D011188:Potassium / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D011188:Potassium