Successful Use of Fludrocortisone in a Child with Refractory Cerebral Salt Wasting Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Hyponatremia post-neurosurgical intervention can be dangerous and potentially life-threatening. Two of its most common causes are cerebral salt wasting (CSW) and syndrome of inappropriate anti-diuretic hormone release (SIADH). CSW is proposed to be secondary not only to the elevated levels of circulating atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) but inhibition of steroidogenesis in the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex, thus resulting in mineralocorticoid deficiency. We present a two-year-old male who had developed acute hyponatremia secondary to CSW on post-operative day two after a sub-total resection of a low-grade juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (WHO grade I). Fludrocortisone was successfully used to manage the refractory hyponatremia and alleviated the need to use very large amounts of oral sodium supplementation.