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Eclampsia Wikipedia

DiseaseDisorder infobox |
Name = Eclampsia |
ICD10 = O15 |
ICD9 = 642.6 |

Eclampsia is a serious complication of pregnancy and is characterised by seizure|convulsions. Usually eclampsia occurs after the onset of pre-eclampsia though sometimes no pre-eclamptic symptoms are recognisable.
The convulsions may appear before, during or after childbirth|labour, though cases of eclampsia after just 20 weeks of pregnancy have been recorded.

The majority of cases are heralded by pregnancy-induced hypertension and proteinuria but the only true sign of eclampsia is an eclamptic convulsion, of which there are four stages. Patients with edema and oliguria may develop renal failure or pulmonary oedema.

• Premonitory stage - this stage is usually missed unless constantly monitored, the woman rolls her eyes while her facial and hand muscles twitch slightly.

It can be fatal to both mother and fetus, with just under one in 50 women dying and one in 14 of their babies also not surviving, despite best-available medical care.

• Mayes, M., Sweet, B. R. & Tiran, D. (1997). Mayes' Midwifery - A Textbook for Midwives 12th Edition, pp. 533???545. Baillière Tindall. ISBN 0-7020-1757-4

Last Modified:   2005-12-23