title: Extreme correction of hyponatremia in a patient treated with intravenous conivaptan.
abstract: Intravenous administration of conivaptan, an arginine vasopressin (AVP) receptor antagonist, has been demonstrated to be a safe and effective therapy for euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia. In this case report, we report an extremely rapid correction of serum sodium with a typical dosing regimen of conivaptan. The patient was a 24 year woman who presented with nausea and vomiting, and was found on imaging to have two intracranial tumors, one of which was a large pituitary macroadenoma. Her serum sodium declined to 121mmol/L and intravenous conivaptan therapy was started. After approximately 25mg of conivaptan, her sodium increased 16mmol/L over 8.5hours. Fortunately, in this case, this correction was well tolerated, and the patient experienced no adverse effects of such a dramatic correction of serum sodium. Despite the good clinical result in this case, it should serve as a warning regarding the use of conivaptan, that although a gradual steady improvement in serum sodium can be expected in the majority of patients, more extreme corrections can be inadvertently achieved with even moderate doses. Thus, the exact clinical situation should be taken into consideration, especially in cases of subacute to chronic hyponatremia, where such an extreme correction could lead to neurologic devastation.
authors.affiliation: California Center for Pituitary Disorders at University of California, San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Room A-808, San Francisco, California 94143-0350, USA.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sughrue
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Lewis S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Blevins
mesh_terms: D065092:Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; D001552:Benzazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D020546:Fourth Ventricle / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007010:Hyponatremia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007275:Injections, Intravenous / Q000379:methods; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012964:Sodium / Q000097:blood; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D065092:Antidiuretic Hormone Receptor Antagonists; D001552:Benzazepines; C106389:conivaptan; D012964:Sodium