title: Prevalence of hyponatremia in intensive care unit patients with brain injury in kashan shahid-beheshti hospital in 2012.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hyponatremia is a common disorder in patients with brain injury. It can result in acute and chronic complications providing this electrolytic disorder is not diagnosed and treated in due time.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hyponatremia in 95 brain injury patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Kashan Shahid-Veheshti hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  This trans-sectional study was conducted on brain injury patients (brain traumas, brain hemorrhage, meningitis and brain tumors) during their six-month stay in the ICU in Kashan Shahid-Beheshti hospital. Data were analyzed after excluding cases of pseudohyponatremia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-five patients with brain injury (69.5% male and 30.5% female ( had a mean age of 42.85 ± 22.59 years, while the hyponatremic patients had a mean age of 48.37 ± 24.03 years. Prevalence and occurrence of hyponatremia were 31.6% and 9.29 ± 6.8 days, respectively. This study revealed no meaningful differences between age, sex, underlying disease and the prevalence of hyponatremia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed an elevated frequency of hyponatremia in patients with brain injuries in ICU which demands the effective approaches for an accurate and timely diagnosis of this electrolyte disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chitsazian
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Batool
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohagheghfar
keywords: Brain Injury; Hyponatremia; Intensive Care Unit