Disturbances in plasma sodium in patients with war head injuries.

Polyuria with marked plasma sodium disturbance was present in 39 of 224 patients with isolated craniocerebral war injuries. Twenty-one of these 39 patients had hyponatremia (sodium level < 130 mmol/l) and polyuria. Eight of them (38%) died within 30 days after trauma. The remaining 18 patients developed classic diabetes insipidus syndrome, and 6 of them (33%) died of hypernatremia within 30 days after trauma. The mortality in both patients with hyponatremia and patients with diabetes insipidus was higher in those with greater disturbances of plasma sodium concentration with polyuria and those with lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores.