edgepedia

Fluid, electrolyte, and acid–base disorders

24 articles

Alcoholic ketoacidosis

Alcoholic ketoacidosis, also called alcoholic ketosis, is a metabolic acidosis with high ketones in people with chronic alcohol use, typically after a binge, vomiting, and stopping drinking.

Aluminium excess

Aluminium excess (ICD-11 5B91.4), body aluminium overload causing bone disease, encephalopathy, and infant neurodevelopmental harm, mainly in kidney failure, dialysis, and parenteral nutrition patients.

Autosomal dominant primary hypomagnesemia with hypocalciuria

Autosomal dominant primary hypomagnesemia with hypocalciuria (ADPHH, HOMG2, renal hypomagnesemia 2, OMIM 154020) is a rare FXYD2-related kidney disorder causing renal magnesium wasting with hypocalciuria, tetany, seizures, and chondrocalcinosis.

Calcium deficiency

Calcium deficiency, also called hypocalcemia when blood calcium falls below 8.5 mg/dL, is low calcium intake or blood level causing neuromuscular irritability, tetany, and bone disease such as osteoporosis, rickets, and osteomalacia; ICD-11 code 5B5K.1.

Dehydration

Dehydration: deficiency of body water from losses exceeding intake, caused by diarrhea, vomiting, sweating, fever, or diuretics; treated with fluids, oral rehydration salts, or IV therapy.

Disorders of magnesium metabolism

Disorders of magnesium metabolism (ICD-10 E83.4; ICD-11 5C64.4) cover hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia. Hypomagnesemia is common in hospitalized patients from GI, renal, or drug causes; hypermagnesemia is rare, mainly in kidney disease.

Disorders of sodium metabolism

Disorders of sodium metabolism (ICD-11 5C64.6) are dysnatremias: hyponatremia, serum sodium below 135 mmol/L, and hypernatremia, above 145 mmol/L, caused by disturbed water balance regulated by vasopressin and thirst.

Electrolyte imbalance

Electrolyte imbalance: abnormal blood levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, or bicarbonate. Caused by vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, drugs, or organ disease; treated by repletion, dilution, or dialysis.

High anion gap metabolic acidosis

Anion gap metabolic acidosis: metabolic acidosis with elevated serum anion gap (AG = Na − (Cl + HCO3), normally 8–16 mmol/L) from unmeasured organic anions such as lactate, ketoacids, and toxic alcohols.

Hypermagnesemia

Hypermagnesaemia (hypermagnesemia; ICD-10-CM E83.41) is an elevated serum magnesium level, defined above 2.6 mg/dL (1.05 mmol/L). Rare, usually caused by kidney failure with magnesium intake; causes reflex loss, hypotension, respiratory depression; treated with calcium gluconate, furosemide, or dialysis.

Hypernatremia

Hypernatremia is a serum sodium above 145 mmol/L from a water deficit relative to sodium, causing thirst and neurologic symptoms; treatment is controlled water replacement, with recent evidence favoring faster correction in admission-related and severe cases.

Hypervolemia

Hypervolemia, or fluid overload, is excess body fluid or blood volume, caused by excess sodium, heart or kidney disease, cirrhosis, or pregnancy; treated with diuretics, salt and fluid restriction, and dialysis.

Hypomagnesuria

Hypomagnesuria (ICD-11 MF98.5) is abnormally low urinary magnesium excretion, usually signaling magnesium depletion with intact renal conservation; normal excretion is 6-10 mEq/24 h, distinguishing it from renal magnesium wasting.

Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia, a serum sodium below 135 mmol/L, is the most common electrolyte disorder, affecting 15–30% of hospitalized patients; classified by volume status and treated with hypertonic saline, fluid restriction, or vaptans.

Late metabolic acidosis of newborn

Late metabolic acidosis of newborn (ICD-11 KB63.0, ICD-10 P74.0): mild metabolic acidosis at 1-3 weeks in healthy premature infants fed cow's milk, with poor growth; bicarbonate does not improve growth.

Magnesium deficiency

Magnesium deficiency, or hypomagnesemia, is abnormally low blood magnesium. Causes include alcohol use, diarrhea, malabsorption, diabetes, and drugs such as PPIs, diuretics, and cisplatin; severe cases cause arrhythmias, seizures, and cardiac arrest.

Methanol poisoning

Methanol poisoning (wood alcohol, methyl alcohol toxicity): formic acid metabolites cause metabolic acidosis and blindness after a 12-24 hour latent period; treated with fomepizole, folinic acid, and hemodialysis.

Neonatal hypomagnesaemia

Neonatal hypomagnesaemia (ICD-10 P71.2, ICD-11 KB61.0) is a transient newborn disorder with serum magnesium below 0.66 mmol/L, caused by maternal diabetes, prematurity, or renal and intestinal losses, and producing functional hypoparathyroidism and hypocalcemia.

Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis

Nephrogenic syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (NSIAD), also hereditary SIADH, is a rare X-linked AVPR2 gain-of-function disorder causing euvolemic hyponatremia with undetectable AVP; treated with fluid restriction and urea.

Primary hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia

Primary hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia, also called hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (HSH), is a rare inherited disorder of magnesium absorption that appears in infancy with seizures and tetany.

Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 2

Pseudohypoaldosteronism type 2, or Gordon syndrome (PHAII, familial hyperkalemic hypertension), is a rare genetic distal-tubulopathy causing hypertension, hyperkalemia, and metabolic acidosis with normal GFR, from WNK1, WNK4, KLHL3, or CUL3 mutations, treated with thiazides.

Salt poisoning

Salt poisoning (salt toxicity) is rare acute hypernatremia from massive short-term salt ingestion, via emetics, caregiver administration, or suicide; about 50% of documented cases were fatal, treated with careful free-water replacement.

Sodium chloride deficiency

Sodium chloride deficiency (ICD-11 5B5K.5), salt deficiency from poor intake or losses via diuretics, cystic fibrosis sweat, or GI losses; rare in healthy people, presents as hypovolemic hyponatremia.

Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion

SIADH, also called syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD), is excessive ADH effect causing euvolemic hyponatremia; diagnosed by concentrated urine with exclusion of other causes, treated with fluid restriction or hypertonic saline.