Pseudohyponatremia in Hypertriglyceridemia-Induced Acute Pancreatitis: A Tool for Diagnosis Rather Than Merely a Laboratory Error?

OBJECTIVES

The relative rarity of hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) as the etiology for acute pancreatitis (AP) delays the final diagnosis of hypertriglyceridemia-induced AP (HTG-AP). This study aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic value of pseudohyponatremia in this clinical entity.

METHODS

We retrospectively compared 140 patients with HTG-AP and 266 patients of AP of other etiologies. The correlation of presenting hyponatremia and a final diagnosis of HTG-AP is evaluated.

RESULTS

Presenting hyponatremia had an area under curve of 0.926 for predicting the diagnosis of HTG-AP. After dichotomization by the optimal cutoff value of 130 mEq/dL, patients with hyponatremia had a higher prevalence of acute kidney injury (61.9% vs 38.1%, P < 0.001), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (52.2% vs 47.8%, P < 0.001), a higher Ranson criteria (3.0 vs 1.4, P < 0.001), and a higher Bedside Index for Severity of Acute Pancreatitis score (0.69 vs 0.55, P = 0.011).

CONCLUSIONS

Presenting hyponatremia is highly efficient in differentiating hypertriglyceridemia from other etiologies of AP. It also demonstrated promising prognostic values in both AP and HTG-AP patients. Therefore, initial serum sodium could potentially provide the first clue of HTG-AP, as well as facilitate risk-stratifying patients to determine treatment allocation.