FARMACIA, 2020, Vol. 68, 3 https://doi.org/10.31925/farmacia.2020.3.5 REVIEW NEW APPROACHES OF THE HYPONATREMIA TREATMENT IN THE ELDERLY – AN UPDATE ALICE BĂLĂCEANU 1,2#, SECIL OMER 1,2, SILVIU ADRIAN MARINESCU 1,3*, SILVIU MIREL PIȚURU 1#, ȘERBAN DUMITRACHE 2#, DANIELA ELENA POPA 1, ANDREEA ANTONIA GHEORGHE 2, SIRAMONA POPESCU 3, CĂTĂLIN BEJINARIU 3, OCTAV GINGHINĂ 1,2, CARMEN GIUGLEA 1,2 1“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 020021, Bucharest, Romania 2“Sf. Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, 13 Vitan-Bârzești Road, 042122, Bucharest, Romania 3“Bagdasar Arseni” Clinical Emergency Hospital, 12 Berceni Road, 041915, Bucharest, Romania *corresponding author:
[email protected] #Authors with equal contribution. Manuscript received: December 2019 Abstract Hyponatremia (hNa) is a frequently common imbalance in the elderly hospitalized patients. It is often correlated with elevated plasma quantities of arginine vasopressin (AVP, the antidiuretic hormone) and namely it depicts a water surplus in order to prevail sodium levels. It can conduct, in a comprehensive range, to detrimental changes that can affect the entire health status, especially the central nervous system, thus increasing the mortality and morbidity of hospitalized patients in care units. The inherent treatment of hNa, mainly of the chronic form, requires the correction of serum sodium concentrations at the appropriate rate, because, augmenting it at a warp speed, it can determine permanent or fatal neurologic sequelae. In this regard, the therapy for hNa may be enlightened by egressing therapies that include vasopressin V2 and V1a receptors antagonists, with the principal role of encouraging aquaresis and rise the serum sodium levels, alongside with the electrolyte- sparing discharge of free water.