Patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations with the electrolyte disorder hyponatremia tended to have worse clinical outcomes, including higher mortality rates, according to findings from a Spanish study.

COPD patients with abnormally low plasma sodium levels showed poorer outcomes in terms of hospital care for hospital days (12.8 versus 7.7, P<0,01), invasive mechanical ventilation days (0.40 vs 0.04, P<0.02), and readmission within 90 days after hospital discharge (1.9 vs 1.5, P=0.13) compared with nonhyponatremic patients.

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