Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:339-342
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Carbamazepine and hyponatremia in patients with affective disorder
R Yassa, H Iskandar, C Nastase and Y Camille
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.
The authors assessed 20 carbamazepine-treated patients for the development
of hyponatremia. None of the patients had readings below 135 meg/liter of
sodium before carbamazepine therapy, but five (25%) did have such readings
after carbamazepine therapy. Three of these patients developed frank
symptoms of hyponatremia within 1-3 months of the start of therapy. In one
patient, hyponatremia developed after rechallenge with carbamazepine. The
authors suggest that caution be used in prescribing carbamazepine to
patients with low or borderline low sodium values.
