title: Baseline characteristics and the association between hyponatraemia and pulmonary embolism prognosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of hyponatraemia on pulmonary thromboembolism mortality rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  The retrospective study was conducted at the Cumhuriyet University Medicine Faculty's Emergency Department, and involved the analysis of records related to all patients who were diagnosed with acute pulmonary thromboembolism between January 2005 and June 2011. Diagnoses were confirmed by pulmonary angiography, multi-slice computed tomography or high-probablity ventilation/perfusion scintigraphy. All patients (n=260) were over 16 years of age. SPSS 14 was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma sodium level, platelet count and hospitalisation time were significiantly lower among those who died (n=16; 6.29) (p<0.005, p<0.035, p<0.035). Pearson correlation analysis found a negative correlation between plasma sodium level and C-reactive protein, white blood cells and pulmonary artery pressure (r = -0.238, p<0.001; r = -0.222, p<0.001; r = -0.444, p<0.018 respectively). A positive correlation was found between plasma sodium level and hospitalisation time (r=0.130; p<0.039).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While mortality rates in hyponatraemic pulmonary thromboembolism patients increases, low plasma sodium is an easy parameter that should be kept in mind for the prognosis of pulmonary thromboembolism disease.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Service, Cumhuriyet University, Medicine Faculty, Sivas, Turkey. ilhankorkmaz100@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ilhan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Korkmaz
authors.forename: Fatma Mutlu Kukul
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Güven
authors.forename: Sevki Hakan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Eren
authors.forename: Inan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Beydilli
authors.forename: Birdal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aktas
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alagozlu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000792:Angiography; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007010:Hyponatremia / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology