Abstract:

Objective     To explore the relationship of serum sodium to complications and prognosis in patients with end stage liver cirrhosis.  Methods       The data from decompensated cirrhosis patients in our hospital were selected to be analyzed. Serum sodium concentration was classified. The relationship between incidences of complications and serum sodium concentration was analyzed. Mortality in different sodium concentrations was determined by the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Using the model of end stage liver disease(MELD), characteristics of serum sodium in different MELD values were analyzed. The relationship between serum sodium and prognosis was analyzed by Cox proportional hazard regression. Results     In 467 patients, the incidence of hyponatremia (＜135mmol/L) was 50.54%. Except for bleeding from the digestive tract, incidences of other complications, such as hepatorenal syndrome, hepatic encephalopathy and spontaneous peritonitis, were higher in hyponatremia than in a sodium concentration ≥135mmol/L (P<0.05). When the concentration was ≤125mmol/L, the incidence of a large amount of ascites was 88.24%, which was obviously higher than that at other concentrations(P=0.000). Mortality of cirrhosis patients was increased when the serum sodium concentration decreased. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that mortality was statistically different inconcentrations of ≤125mmol/L, (125135)mmol/L and ≥135mmol/L (P=0.000). Sodium concentration could be one of the independent prognostic predictors by the Cox proportional hazard regression(P=0.000).  Conclusion    The complications closely correlate with hyponatremia, which can be one of the prognostic predictors in patients with end stage liver disease.

Key words: Serum sodium； Liver cirrhosis； Complication;  Prognosis