Treatment of Hyponatremia

Abstract

In 1978 Forrest et al.¹ reported that demeclocycline was superior to lithium in the treatment of the chronic syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone. They studied 10 patients with the syndrome who had a mean serum sodium concentration of 122±4 mmol per liter in spite of severe water restriction. After 5 to 14 days of 600 to 1200 mg of demeclocycline, the mean serum sodium concentration in the 10 patients was 139±1 mmol per liter, with unrestricted water intake. In three patients, treatment with lithium was unsuccessful, and adverse central nervous system side effects developed in two of them. . . .