Hypernatremic dehydration of infancy: an epidemiologic review
Paneth, N.
American Journal of Diseases of Children 134(8): 785-792
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-922X PMID: 6996475 Document Number: 163513
Over 90% of all cases of hypernatremic dehydration (HD) in infants occur when there is a clinical diagnosis of diarrheal disease. Infants with HD are characterized by signs of central nervous system dysfunction and doughy skin. Treatment is difficult, as convulsions are frequently induced by therapy, and brain damage may result. HD's pathogenesis is multifactorial. Epidemiological studies suggest that the infecting pathogen is not related to variance in serum sodium concentrations accompanying diarrheal dehydration. Rather, differences in infant sodium concentrations may be due to differences in host response to diarrheal illness. Dietary factors may be involved in susceptible infants, but these have not been clearly identified. Further studies of the feeding history and nutritional status of infants with HD are needed, along with clinical and demographic information, to determine whether dietary experience is causative in HD.