MOJ Women’s Health Review Article Open Access Eclampsia: an overview clinical presentation, diagnosis and management Introduction Volume 3 Issue 2 - 2016 Preeclampsia and eclampsia Rose Gasnier Hypertensive disorders are among the most common medical Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil complications of pregnancy, affecting about 7-10% of all pregnant women. These disorders are an important cause of maternal and perinatal Correspondence: Rose Gasnier, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto morbidity.1,2 Preeclampsia is classically recognized as hypertension Alegre, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, that begins after week 20 of pregnancy with significant proteinuria Email [email protected] that disappears until 12weeks after the labor. The Australasian Society Received: September 25, 2015 | Published: November 28, for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ASSHP) already had 2016 suggested that proteinuria not be included as a diagnostic criterion for preeclampsia.3 According to The American Congress of OBGYN Task Force on Hypertension in Pregnancy, proteinuria was eliminated as a requirement for the diagnosis of preeclampsia.4 HELLP syndrome represents a severe form of preeclampsia-eclampsia, currently regarded as a variant of severe preeclampsia or a complication of the cases of molar or hydropic degeneration of placenta with or without disease, and is characterized by hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes a coexistent fetus.16 Convulsions in the first half of pregnancy in and low platelets.5 HELLP syndrome and eclampsia seem to share the association with hypertension and proteinuria should be initially component of endothelial dysfunction in their pathophysiology. The considered as eclampsia, and another pathologic process should be incidence of HELLP syndrome in association with eclampsia is 10.8- excluded. The incidence of eclampsia varies between 0.2-0.5 percent 32.1%,6,7 and the incidence of eclampsia in association with HELLP of all deliveries according to the 1988 World Health Organization’s syndrome is 6-52%.8,9 International Collaborative Study of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy.6 The reported incidence is usually much higher in tertiary The usual clinic practice in many prenatal clinics is to initiate urine referral medical centers and in patients that do not obtain prenatal dipstick protein measurements at each prenatal visit after 20weeks care. A global decrease in the incidence of eclampsia is supported by of pregnancy. Gestational proteinuria is defined as urinary protein studies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The rate excretion of at least 300mg per 24-hour timed collection or persistent is 30times higher in developing countries.17 Patients with ongoing proteinuria (1+ on dipstick on at least two occasions at least 4hours seizures should be given anticonvulsant therapy when magnesium apart). In some women hypertension or proteinuria may be absent in sulfate is insufficient to control them. These patients rarely go on 10 to 15% of women who develop HELLP syndrome and in 20-25% of to develop epilepsy. A rapid increase in blood pressure followed by those who develop eclampsia, defaulting the diagnosis.10,11 Substantial convulsions is usually preceded by syntoms as a headache or visual proteinuria (3+ in dipstick) is present in 48% of the cases of eclampsia disturbances.11 Several clinical symptoms are indicative of eclampsia but absent in another 14% of cases.12 Eclamptic seizures can develop diagnosis: persistent occipital or frontal headaches, blurred vision, before proteinuria is identified, and proteinuria may fluctuate over any photophobia, epigastric or right upper quadrant pain, and altered 24-hour period. mental status. In most cases can be seen at least one of these symptoms A large proportion of women with eclampsia do not exhibit in 59-75% of the cases.11 Epigastric or right upper pain precedes antecedent hypertension. It had been suggested that eclamptic women hepatic infarction and hemorrhage or catastrophic rupture of a sub- without significant hypertension had even lower non pregnant blood capsular hematoma. A population-based survey on eclampsia - BEST pressure, resulting in a lower limit of the cerebral autoregulatorycurve.13 survey (British Eclampsia Survey Team) in the UK, reported that 50% In addition, circulating factors capable of initiating blood-brain of women with eclampsia had headache preceding convulsions, 19% barrier disruption may be involved, increasing the susceptibility to experienced visual disturbances and 19% complained of epigastric eclampsia.14,15 Prevention or control of convulsive episodes is very pain.18 Antepartum and preterm eclampsia were found to be more important in patients with severe preeclampsia. Eclampsia is related likely to be preceded by prodromal symptoms. to adverse outcomes including cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, seizures, cardiopulmonary compromise, renal failure, liver hematoma or Maternal morbidity and mortality 10 rupture, placental abruption, preterm delivery and death. HELLP syndrome Eclampsia diagnosis Eclampsia is one of the most important reasons for maternal Eclampsia is defined as the occurrence of grand mal seizures during mortality in high and low-income countries. According to a review of pregnancy or during/after delivery in a woman with preeclampsia, the literature about maternal mortality, concurrent HELLP syndrome not attributable to other causes. Almost all cases occur in the third and eclampsia was the principal cause or contributing condition for 19 trimester (91%), after 28weeks of pregnancy.12 Preeclampsia or eclampsia-related mortality in low and high-income countries. The eclampsia occurring before 20weeks of pregnancy can occur in deaths probably are related to HELLP syndrome rather than seizures Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com MOJ Womens Health. 2016;3(2):182‒187. 182 © 2016 Gasnier. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially. Copyright: Eclampsia: an overview clinical presentation, diagnosis and management ©2016 Gasnier 183 alone, and the control or absence of control of seizures did not appear Each year approximately 63,000 women worldwide die of eclampsia to affect the cause or timing of death. The majority of maternal deaths and preeclampsia, and 99% of these deaths occur in low-income were due to intracerebral hemorrhage, data that is classically known countries.31 Multiple seizures before medical attention and poor in cases of eclampsia and in concordance to most reports.20 Maternal prenatal care are related to the high maternal mortality reported from mortality from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy seems to be developing countries. Perinatal mortality and morbidity are high in associated with the triad of seizures, severe systolic hypertension eclamptic pregnancies, with reported perinatal death from 5.6-11.8%, and thrombocytopenia secondary to HELLP syndrome.21 Comparison related to prematurity, abruption placentae, and severe fetal grown of two eras of eclampsia data from the University of Tennessee- restriction. The rate of preterm delivery is 50%, with about 25% of Memphis, HELLP syndrome was more prevalent in patients with early the cases occurring before 32weeks of pregnancy.14 compared to late eclampsia.22 The incidence of eclampsia during the The pathophysiologic changes that occur within the cerebrovascular second era was nearly half of that reported for the first era at the same system in the setting of preeclampsia and eclampsia predispose institution. The most common maternal complication in eclampsia pregnant women to ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Understanding cases was recurrent seizures followed by persistent neurologic the underlying mechanisms helps prevent acute vascular events before deficits. The reduction in eclampsia cases likely is due to the routine delivery and in the postpartum period.32 In a single year observational use of magnesium sulfate following recommendations from the study that has carried out in Bangladesh, there were 4727 births MAGPIE Study.23 Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were higher among which were 124 (2.62%) women with eclampsia.33 Most of the in the antepartum/intrapartum eclampsia patient group compared to patients were young, in a first pregnancy with antepartum eclampsia; postpartum eclampsia. The earlier that eclampsia occurred during more than half were term gestations with infrequent or absent prenatal gestation, the greater the disease severity and the more likely clinical care. All patients had convulsions before admission and 85% were presentation composed of hypertension, proteinuria and evidence of unconscious. Complications of eclampsia were found in 30% of the HELLP syndrome. cases: pulmonary edema, postpartum hemorrhage, cerebral vascular Investigators at the University of Mississippi, reviewing three accident, HELLP syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, decades of patients with HELLP syndrome, found no evidence of acute renal failure. Criteria-based audits (CBA) have been used to significant worsening of maternal or perinatal outcomes when both improve clinical management in developed countries, and recently conditions occurred together, a finding different from most other have been introduced in the developing world. A CBA of eclampsia series. They concluded that eclampsia does not appear