from Section 3.9 - Obstetrics and Maternal Peripartum Complications
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2023
Key Learning Points
1. Pre-eclampsia is a major cause of mortality in developing countries. It remains a cause of significant morbidity and is a common reason for critical care admissions in the obstetric population in the UK.
2. Careful adherence to national guidelines on the treatment and prevention of pre-eclampsia should be followed when a patient is admitted to critical care and this requires a multidisciplinary approach.
3. Acute pulmonary oedema occurs in 3 per cent of patients with severe pre-eclampsia, and early diagnosis is essential to differentiate between hypertensive disease of pregnancy and other causes.
4. Haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets (HELLP) is associated with pre-eclampsia and carries high maternal and neonatal morbidity.
5. Eclampsia can complicate severe pre-eclampsia or occur in stable or undiagnosed pre-eclampsia. Prompt delivery of the fetus should occur as soon as the mother has been stabilised.
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