Clinical Nutrition Exam 1 Practice

Dilutional hyponatremia lowers serum osmolality, so water shifts into brain cells and causes cerebral edema. As the brain swells, intracranial pressure rises and can lead to brainstem herniation, a life-threatening event that can result in death. The other options aren’t direct consequences of this condition: hyperkalemia is not a typical outcome of dilutional hyponatremia, hyperglycemia isn’t caused by low sodium, and increased hepatic enzymes don’t arise from this electrolyte disturbance. The key danger here is the brain swelling and potential herniation from the hypoosmolar state.