Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0740441 (acute diarrhea)
 2,275 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Data were analyzed on 290 children admitted consecutively to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, in 1993 to examine the frequency, severity, risk factors, and mortality of hypokalemia (3.5 mEq/l serum potassium) and the efficacy of treatment. 43 (14.8%) children had 54 episodes of hypokalemia. Most (68.6%) episodes were moderate. Predisposing factors were the nature of primary disease (renal disease 19%, septicemia 19%, acute diarrhea 14%, and heart disease with congestive failure and meningoencephalitis 12% each), malnutrition (weight for age 80% in 72%), and treatment with drugs (diuretics 20%, beta-agonists 13%, and corticosteroids 11%). Diagnoses most common in hypokalemia cases were acute renal failure (25%), septicemia (22.8%), and acute severe bronchial asthma (20%). The most important predisposing factor for hypokalemia prior to hospitalization was poor oral intake (i.e., inability to replace adequate potassium) (27%). All 43 children received 4-6 mEq potassium/100 ml of intravenous fluids. Clinicians administered an infusion of 0.3 mEq potassium/kg/hour to 7 children (9 episodes) who had ECG changes of hypokalemia until the ECG became normal. Potassium levels returned to normal in all 9 episodes requiring rapid correction and in 40 of 45 episodes requiring slow correction. PICU patients with hypokalemia were more likely to die than PICU patients with no hypokalemia (25.6% vs. 10.9%; p 0.05; odds ratio = 2.34). Hypokalemia patients who received slow correction therapy were more likely to die than those who received rapid correction therapy (31% vs 0; p 0.05). Mortality was lower in PICU patients whose hypokalemia was corrected than in PICU patients whose hypokalemia was not corrected (13.5% vs. 100%; p 0.05). Based on these findings, regular monitoring and rapid correction are recommended to improve the outcome of hypokalemia.
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PMID:Hypokalemia in a pediatric intensive care unit. 877 44