title: [Admission of women to an intensive care unit during pregnancy or the postpartum period: circumstances and prognosis. A retrospective series of 96 cases].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Very few studies had been published about admission of obstetric patients in French intensive care units (ICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  Files of women who had been admitted during pregnancy or the postpartum period to ICU of an academic hospital between January 1st 1997 and 31st December 2006 were analyzed. Diagnosis at admission, severity, main treatments and outcome were studied during two successive periods of 5 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 96 admissions (0.95% of all admissions to ICU). They included 34 complications due to arterial hypertension (35%), among them 10 cases of pre-eclampsia, eight of eclampsia, seven of Hemolysis-Liver Enzymes-Low Platelet (HELLP) syndrome and two of retroplacental hematoma ; 26 postpartum haemorrhages (27%); and 36 miscellaneous diagnosis including two sepsis, four acute pulmonary oedema, four cardiomyopathy, three pulmonary embolism, and three acute liver steatosis. Mean Simplified Acute Physiologic Score (SAPS II) was 18.5±11.2 and mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) 2.1±2.3. The main treatments were mechanical ventilation (50% of all cases) and transfusion (32%). The average ICU stay was 5.7±5.4 days. Two maternal deaths were observed (aortic dissection and peripartum cardiomyopathy). The number of patients admitted for postpartum haemorrhage increased from five to 21 over the two successive periods of the study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The number of women admitted to ICU during pregnancy or the postpartum period is low. Admissions for hemorrhage have increased. Regular monitoring of maternal morbidity and mortality gives relevant clues for assessing the quality of obstetrical care.
authors: Service de gynécologie obstétrique, université de Poitiers, CHU de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Lelong
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Pourrat
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Pinsard
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Goudet
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Badin
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Mimoz
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Pierre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000453:epidemiology; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000453:epidemiology; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult