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Previous Volume 339:451-458 August 13, 1998 Number 7 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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A low serum potassium concentration is perhaps the most common electrolyte abnormality encountered in clinical practice. When defined as a value of less than 3.6 mmol of potassium per liter, hypokalemia is found in over 20 percent of hospitalized patients.¹ The majority of these patients have serum potassium concentrations between 3.0 and 3.5 mmol per liter, but as many as one quarter have values below 3.0 mmol per liter. Comparable data are not available for outpatients, but a low serum potassium concentration has been found in 10 to 40 percent of patients treated with thiazide diuretics.² Hypokalemia is usually well . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Normal Regulation of Potassium Balance

Clinical Spectrum

Drug-Induced Causes Due to Transcellular Shifts

₂-Sympathomimetic Drugs

Xanthines

Other Drugs

Drug-Induced Causes Due to Abnormal Losses of Potassium

Diuretics

Drugs with Mineralocorticoid or Glucocorticoid Effects

Other Drugs

Laxatives and Enemas

Nondrug Causes Due to Transcellular Shifts

Nondrug Causes Due to Inadequate Dietary Intake

Nondrug Causes Due to Abnormal Losses of Potassium

Losses in Stool

Loss through the Kidney

            Metabolic Alkalosis

            Metabolic Acidosis

            Other Disorders

Principles of Potassium Replacement

Source Information

From the Department of Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Gennari at Burgess 315, Fletcher Allen Health Care, Burlington, VT 05401.

References

Related Letters:

Treatment of Hypokalemia
Agarwal A., Wingo C. S., Robertson J. I. S., Gennari F. J.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1999; 340:154-155, Jan 14, 1999. Correspondence

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