A Case Report of Severe Hyponatremia Secondary to Coronavirus Disease 2019 Viral Pneumonia

Pillutla, Vinati; Patel, Anooj; Koneru, Sindhoora; Ng, Kenneth K; Ng, Mitchell K

As of December 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in 82.2 million cases worldwide. We report the case of a 69-year-old South Asian female with a history of hypertension, hypothyroidism, meningiomatosis, and urinary incontinence who contracted COVID-19 and developed severe hyponatremia. She was initially medically managed with antibiotics, anti-parasitics, anti-coagulants, and steroids. After experiencing breathlessness, chest discomfort, high systolic blood pressure, and tachycardia, she was admitted and diagnosed with post-COVID pneumonia, and was conservatively treated with steroids. She showed improvement, and was discharged upon being declared hemodynamically stable. While the patient was at home, she experienced periods of breathlessness and acral edema. This case raises the question of the correlation between hyponatremia and COVID-19, especially in regards to symptomatic presentations, including altered mental status, headache, and nausea. As there are limited studies that show severe electrolyte disorders leading to mortality, more research is needed to understand hyponatremia in cases with COVID-19.