Body fluid and electrolyte composition in cardiac patients with severe heart disease but without peripheral edema.

A LTHOUGH excessive retention of sodium and water is a striking feature in frank congestive heart failure, little is known about the abnormalities in body fluid and electrolyte metabolism in cardiac patients with severe heart disease prior to the development of obvious peripheral edema. Previous studies in nonedematous cardiac patients have not revealed any impairment in the handling of oral or intravenous sodium loads prior to the appearance of edema.2 3 Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine whether any abnormality in body fluid and electrolyte metabolism might be present in such patients even though they might appear to handle sodium loads normally. When it was found that these nonedematous cardiac patients had significant increases in exchangeable sodium and radiosulfate space, it was decided to attempt to correlate such changes in body fluids and electrolytes with cardiovascular and renal hemodynamic function.