Conivaptan and an initial study shows that it has some promise. Conivaptan is most commonly used in the hospital in cases of euvolemic and hypervolemic hyponatremia, conditions where the sodium level in the blood falls significantly below normal. In the United States hyponatremia affects about four percent of hospitalized patients. Although many patients do not show symptoms, extreme cases may result in brain swelling, respiratory arrest and even death. Hypervolemic hyponatremia specifically is when the body’s serum sodium levels fall below the total body water increase, which results in edema. This is associated with congestive heart failure, liver disease and kidney
Blood sugar level given in terms of whole blood, but most laboratories now measure and report plasma or serum glucose levels. Because red blood cells (erythrocytes) have a higher concentration of protein (e.g., hemoglobin) than serum, serum has a higher water content and consequently more dissolved glucose than does whole blood. To convert from whole-blood glucose, multiplication by 1.14 has been shown to generally give the serum/plasma level To prevent contamination of the sample with intravenous fluids, particular care should be given to drawing blood samples from the arm opposite the one in which an intravenous line is inserted. Alternatively, blood can be