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Question: 1 / 400

In hypervolemic hyponatremia, what happens to sodium levels in the body?

Sodium levels increase

Sodium levels remain unchanged

Sodium content increases but is diluted

In hypervolemic hyponatremia, the body has an excess of total body water relative to sodium. Despite the increased total sodium content due to the volume overload, the sodium concentration in the serum decreases because the excess fluid dilutes the sodium in the extracellular space. This condition often occurs in scenarios such as heart failure, cirrhosis, or nephrotic syndrome, where high total body fluid contributes to dilutional effects.

In this specific context, the important point is that even though there is an increase in total sodium content, the prevailing factor is the relative dilution caused by the additional water. Therefore, this results in low sodium levels in the blood serum due to the dilution effect, which characterizes hypervolemic hyponatremia.

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