[Physiopathological and clinical features of hypernatremia]

The observation of hypernatriaemia in a large series under a variety of clinical conditions (gastrointestinal loss, increased "forced loss", and insufficiency parenteral feeding) is made the occasional for an overview of its main physiopathological and clinical features. From the physiopathological standpoint, the syndrome is rarely coupled with an absolute water deficiency. More commonly, sodium and water losses go together to bring about a fall in both intracellular and extracellular volume. The clinical significance of hypernatriaemia is essentially linked to increased osmolar content, not only of the extracellular liquid, but more particularly (due to water depletion) of the intracellular compartment, which underlies the establishment and progress of the anatomopathological lesions and the clinical symptoms.