[Combination diuretic therapy in heart failure]. / Combinaties van diuretica bij hartfalen.

Loop diuretics are the cornerstone of the treatment of volume overload in decompensated heart failure. However, often complete decongestion cannot be achieved rapidly with loop diuretics alone, partly due to compensatory upregulation of sodium resorption at other parts of the nephron. These compensatory mechanisms can be antagonized by using a combination of diuretics. In earlier research, a number of those combinations have been investigated, but no diuretic combination has been proven to be both efficient and safe yet. A recent multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study - performed by Mullens et al. in 2022 - investigated adding acetazolamide (Diamox) to loop diuretics in patients with decompensated heart failure. They found that a higher rate of decongestion was achieved with the addition of acetazolamide without seemingly more side effects. The addition of acetazolamide can be considered in the treatment of decompensated heart failure.

NaCl 3% Bolus Therapy as Emergency Treatment for Severe Hyponatremia: Comparison of 100 mL vs 250 mL.

CONTEXT: The aim of initial treatment of severe hyponatremia is to rapidly increase serum sodium to reduce the complications of cerebral edema. The optimal strategy to achieve this goal safely is still under debate. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of 100 and 250 mL NaCl 3% rapid bolus therapy as initial treatment of severe hypotonic hyponatremia. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients admitted to a teaching hospital in The Netherlands between 2017 and 2019. The patients were 130 adults with severe hypotonic hyponatremia, defined as serum sodium ≤ 120 mmol/L. A bolus of either 100 mL (n = 63) or 250 mL (n = 67) NaCl 3% was the initial treatment. Successful treatment was defined as a rise in serum sodium ≥ 5 mmol/L within the first 4 hours after bolus therapy. Overcorrection of serum sodium was defined as an increase of more than 10 mmol/L in the first 24 hours. RESULTS: The percentage of patients with a rise in serum sodium ≥5 mmol/L within 4 hours was 32% and 52% after a bolus of 100 and 250 mL, respectively (P = .018). Overcorrection of serum sodium was observed after a median of 13 hours (range 9-17 hours) in 21% of patients in both treatment groups (P = .971). Osmotic demyelination syndrome did not occur. CONCLUSION: Initial treatment of severe hypotonic hyponatremia is more effective with a NaCl 3% bolus of 250 mL than of 100 mL and does not increase the risk of overcorrection.