Hypernatremia secondary to post-stroke hypodipsia: just add water!

Disorders in water metabolism may occur in stroke patients. When hypernatremia arises in this setting, it is usually secondary to the development of central diabetes insipidus or it is the result of neurologic lesions that prevent patients from having free access to water. Much rarer are the cases of post-stroke hypernatremia caused by hypodipsia secondary to lesions of the thirst center. We report the case of a patient with severe hypernatremia, probably secondary to post-hemorrhagic stroke hypodipsia. The hypernatremia seen in this case was corrected by scheduling the patient’s water intake.