Hypernatremia. Its significance in pediatric practice.

Hypernatremic dehydration is a fairly common and potentially very dangerous illness in infants and children. It occurs during the course of a wide variety of illnesses. Predisposing factors include central nervous system diseases, decreased fluid intake, increased fluid losses from hyperventilation, perspiring, diarrhea and emesis, increased aldosterone output (contributing to sodium retention), the infant's high obligatory renal water loss and the practice of feeding infants fluids with a comparatively high solute content. If the attending physician is aware of the predisposing factors and makes an early diagnosis and then rehydrates the patient slowly using solutions which contain some salt, the outcome will most likely be favorable. Even though the brain appears to be damaged during rehydration, the patient may make a complete recovery if proper supportive measures are instituted.