A case of transient blindness in a postoperative hyponatremic child

Hyponatremia represents a common electrolyte disorder in postoperative pati ents. Headache, nausea, emesis, weakness and lethargy are all consistent sy mptoms of hyponatremia in children. Among the neurologic symptoms that are infrequently seen in severe hyponatremic pediatric patients seizure is incl uded while visual disorders are not. We report a case of an 8-year-old boy who underwent abdominal surgery and developed severe hyponatremia. Five day s after surgery the child suffered a seizure and successively experienced b ilateral visual loss. However. after prompt correction of serum sodium conc entration, a complete resolution of the blindness was obtained. Thus, we di scuss the present case speculating on the pathogenesis of hyponatremic blin dness and on its possible therapeutic approach. In conclusion, we suggest t hat blindness is to be considered a rare symptom that can occur in the clin ical scenario of hyponatremia and we report its complete reversibility afte r timely treatment of hyponatremia.