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Water intoxication presenting as maternal and neonatal seizures: a case report.

Chapman, TH; Hamilton, M (2008) Water intoxication presenting as maternal and neonatal seizures: a case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports, 2 (366). ISSN 1752-1947 https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-2-366
SGUL Authors: Hamilton, Mark

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Abstract

Introduction We present an unusual case of fitting in the mother and newborn child, and the challenges faced in the management of their hyponatraemia due to water intoxication. Case presentation A previously well 37-year-old, primigravid Caucasian woman presented with features mimicking eclampsia during labour. These included confusion, reduced consciousness and seizures but without a significant history of hypertension, proteinuria or other features of pre-eclampsia. Her serum sodium was noted to be low at 111 mmol/litre as was that of her newborn baby. She needed anti-convulsants with subsequent intubation to stop the fitting and was commenced on a hypertonic saline infusion with frequent monitoring of serum sodium. There is a risk of long-term neurological damage from central pontine myelinolysis if the hyponatraemia is corrected too rapidly. Mother and baby went on to make a full recovery without any long-term neurological complications. Conclusion There is little consensus on the treatment of life-threatening hyponatraemia. Previous articles have outlined several possible management strategies as well as their risks. After literature review, an increase in serum sodium concentration of no more than 8–10 mmol/litre in 24 hours is felt to be safe but can be exceeded with extreme caution if life-threatening symptoms do not resolve. Formulae exist to calculate the amount of sodium needed and how much hypertonic intravenous fluid will be required to allow safer correction. We hypothesise the possible causes of hyponatraemia in this patient and underline its similarity in symptom presentation to eclampsia.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2008 Chapman and Hamilton; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms ofthe Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: General & Internal Medicine, 1199 Other Medical And Health Sciences
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE)
Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE) > Centre for Clinical Education (INMECE )
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Medical Case Reports
ISSN: 1752-1947
Related URLs:
Dates:
DateEvent
4 December 2008Published
PubMed ID: 19055802
Web of Science ID: 19055802
Go to PubMed abstract
URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/107170
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-2-366

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