Endocrine Abstracts

Background: In March 2020, COVID-19, a disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, was declared a global pandemic, posing a significant threat to global health. Whilst predominantly a respiratory disease, extra-pulmonary manifestations have been reported, including endocrine and electrolyte disturbances. Thus, this study evaluates the incidence of serum sodium testing and abnormalities recorded in patients admitted with COVID-19 infection at the Royal London Hospital (RLH) between 1st March and 1st May 2020.

Methods: This single-centre audit collected retrospective data from 279 patients treated for COVID-19 infection between March 1st 2020 and May 1st 2020 at the RLH. Data on serum sodium testing and abnormalities were obtained from the electronic patient healthcare records.

Results: 100% of patients had their sodium level checked and 47.7% had an abnormal result. The commonest sodium disturbance was hypernatraemia. Disease severity, classified according to 4C score, was associated with a statistically significant increase in risk of sodium disturbance. Prolonged hospital stay (≥14 days) was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing an abnormality in serum sodium (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Abnormalities in serum sodium are common in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 infection. Incidence of abnormal serum sodium levels was higher in patients with more severe disease as well as longer lengths of hospital stay. These findings suggest that routine evaluation of sodium in COVID-19 inpatients is warranted. It is a frequent occurrence that hospitalised patients develop disturbances in sodium levels, but the relationship between more severe COVID-19 and sodium dysregulation, particularly hypernatraemia should be further investigated. If higher serum sodium levels in COVID-19 patients are linked with higher mortality, closer monitoring and earlier corrections and may aid in preventing disease severity and improve outcomes of hospitalised patients with COVID-19.