Labour-related eclampsia.
Twenty-four cases of eclampsia managed in a hospital in Hong Kong over a five-year period were reviewed. Four patients had antepartum eclampsia and one had postpartum eclampsia following elective caesarean section. Four of these five patients had severe pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) (greater than 160/100 mmHg). The other 19 patients had eclampsia occurring during labour or within six hours of delivery. This group included 10 patients with labour-onset PIH, none of whom developed severe hypertension before their convulsions. In the remaining nine patients, only five had severe hypertension before convulsion. The results suggest that labour-related eclampsia has become more common than antepartum eclampsia, and severe hypertension before convulsion is an infrequent finding and therefore an unreliable sign in these patients.
Lao
T T
TT
Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit, Princess Margaret Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Chin
R K
RK
Leung
B F
BF
D000328:Adult; D004461:Eclampsia / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome