Eclampsia is ... Eclampsia in pregnant women: symptoms, treatment and causes

During the bearing of the baby, every future mother attentively monitors the state of her health. After all, much depends on this, including the development of the baby. In this article I want to talk about a problem such as eclampsia in pregnant women.

Terminology

Initially, you need to understand the terminology that will be used in this article. So, eclampsia is first and foremost the most dangerous complication of pregnancy, when there is a threat to the life of not only the child, but even the mother herself. However, do not be scared - this state is extremely rare. Such problems appear no more than once per 100 pregnancies. It is also necessary to say that eclampsia is a complication during the period of toxicosis, the highest degree of this unpleasant condition.

Causes of the problem

It is worth noting that physicians do not yet know the exact causes of this condition in women. However, the following are allotted:

1. Genetic factor. Those. If such problems have already occurred in the family of a woman.
2. Often, this state is repeated. This means that if a woman has experienced eclampsia during a previous pregnancy, the problem may recur.
3. On the origin of pathology, according to physicians, the age of the parturient also influences. It is believed that more often this complication occurs in those women who are not yet 18 or more than 40 years old.
4. Eclampsia often occurs in multiple pregnancies.
5. Very often this pathology occurs in those women who have various problems with the kidneys. Often develops against a background of acute disease of these organs.
6. The cause may also be a disease, such as systemic lupus erythematosus.

It is also worth noting that eclampsia is a complication, during which the blood pressure rises very sharply. And this, in turn, leads to spasm of blood vessels, which causes various kinds of circulatory disorders and as a result - cerebral edema.

Accompanying problems and diseases

Also, doctors say that eclampsia in pregnant women is often accompanied by various conditions. Those. There are certain moments against which often a problem such as eclampsia is manifested.

• Arterial hypertension. It has already been said that often eclampsia manifests itself against the background of high blood pressure. However, this complication also occurs in women with normal blood pressure (approximately 16% of cases). It is also worth noting that if a pregnant woman has severe hypertension, eclampsia will manifest itself before the 32nd week.
• Proteinuria (protein in the urine). Also, doctors say that all those with eclampsia have varying degrees of proteinuria. However, 14% of women still have this problem.
• Often eclampsia is accompanied by swelling. However, this condition may not occur in a pregnant woman (this is approximately 28% of cases).

Manifestation of eclampsia

From the above it became clear that eclampsia is such a complication of pregnancy, when there is a threat to the life not only of the baby, but of the woman herself. However, it should be noted that this condition can also manifest itself before the moment of conception, as well as after childbirth.

Current surveys suggest that post-partum eclampsia occurs most often on the second day after delivery. However, this can happen much later, after about 28 days. Such cases have also been recorded by doctors. Statistics show that most often this problem manifests itself in the second half of pregnancy (after the 28th week in 91% of cases). But it can also occur before the 20th week of gestation (but only in 1.5% of cases).

Types of eclampsia

It is necessary to say also that in medicine three main types of eclampsia are distinguished:

1. Brain. In this case, the main cause is fluctuations in blood pressure, arterial hypertension. Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes may also develop as complications.
2. Renal eclampsia. Attacks in this case convulsive, and a coma is accompanied by anuria.
3. Hepatic eclampsia. In this case, doctors talk about the deepest metabolic disorders.

The main symptomatology

It is also necessary to consider various signs of eclampsia. This is important, because every woman should know how to distinguish this pathology. Speaking generally, eclampsia is the onset of seizures with loss of consciousness. However, the cause of this condition should not be associated with any cerebral pathology. It is also worth noting that almost any factor can provoke an attack in a woman. It can be the most ordinary bright light, a loud knock or strong negative emotions.

Before convulsions, a woman most often experiences the following symptoms:

1. A headache may occur. There are also cases of dizziness.
2. There may be various kinds of visual impairment: "flies" before the eyes, the nebula of the view, the vagueness of the picture.
3. Women often have a general weakness in the whole body, a desire to immediately sit down or lie down.
4. There may also be pain in the epigastric region or in the region of the right hypochondrium.

The main symptom: convulsions

Considering various signs of eclampsia, it is worth noting that the main symptom in this case is convulsions. They arise and develop in a certain order. So, the phases of convulsions are as follows:

• The first phase lasts about 30 seconds. There are small contractions of the facial muscles. Twitching can also go to the upper limbs.
• The duration of the second phase is approximately 25-30 seconds. There are so-called tonic convulsions. The whole body flexes, the head throws back. At the same time, breathing happens with interruptions, delays. Jaws are tightly compressed. It should be noted that let this period and not too long, but still it is the most dangerous. After all, there can be a rapid cerebral hemorrhage, which will cause instant death or a coma.
• The third phase takes about one and a half minutes. Here, mostly there are clonic convulsions, i.e. Twitching of the muscles of the whole body, limbs. Breathing can be either intermittent or completely absent. Of the foam is often allocated foam. At the same time, the pupils also widen, and a loss of consciousness may occur. At the end of this phase, the breathing of the pregnant woman gradually begins to adjust, enter into the norm.
• The fourth phase of the medical profession is called eclampsic coma. The woman's breathing is noisy, loud. Often, at first, the lady is unconscious. When she returns, the pregnant woman does not remember anything and does not understand what happened to her. Basically this phase is accompanied by a severe headache.

It is worth noting that after the fourth phase, a new seizure may occur. Eclampsic coma can last even a day, during this time a woman can survive about 15-18 seizures. The prognosis after this doctor is done on the basis of the examination of the patient, additional studies are carried out if necessary.

The manifestation of eclampsia in the puerperium

As already mentioned above, there is also eclampsia after childbirth. It can begin as during the very process of the birth of a baby, and after it (in the first day). It should also be noted that this condition often leads to severe complications, such as acute renal failure or the so-called HELLP-syndrome. It appears as follows.

1. The liver changes the content of the most important enzymes, which can lead to its serious damage.
2. Hemolysis can also occur - the destruction of red blood cells.
3. Also, there may be a sharp decrease in the number of platelets. This thrombocytopenia is the most complicated disorder that concerns blood coagulability.

It is worth noting that if postpartum eclampsia does not threaten the life of the child, then this is an extremely dangerous condition for the mother. Therefore, this problem requires immediate treatment.

Prognosis for eclampsia

This is a problem such as eclampsia. Symptoms have already been addressed to a sufficient degree. It should also be noted that the predictions after this complication the doctor can give on the basis of the following factors.

• The severity of the disease. In this case, all symptomatology and the brightness of its manifestation are taken into account.
• The most important factor is the severity of seizures and their frequency. The more of them, the worse.
• The forecast is also affected by timely intervention by doctors. If the help was provided on time, the forecast can be extremely positive.
• Of course, the subsequent course of pregnancy is affected by the presence, as well as the nature of the complications.

Factors affecting the forecast

The prognosis will be positive if the seizures become less frequent, appear less often. Also, a positive factor is an increase in the amount of urine released.

The forecast will be negative in the following cases:

• If seizures follow one another;
• When their frequency increases;
• If there is a temperature increase of about 38 ° C;
• When there is an arrhythmia, an increase in the pulse.

If an eclampsia attack ends with a hemorrhage to any organs - this is considered a serious complication of this problem. In case of poor examination of the medical staff, the pregnant woman may, during seizures, cause serious bodily harm, up to and including biting off the tongue.

It is also worth noting that the cause of death can be various kinds of degenerative changes in different organs (most often in the kidney or liver), which is possible with the long development of this problem.

Diagnosis: laboratory tests

We have understood what eclampsia is, the symptoms and causes of the complication are also examined by us. Now we turn to the methods of diagnosis of this disease. So, if a woman had a seizure to confirm this diagnosis, the following laboratory tests can be assigned to a pregnant woman:

• Blood clotting test;
• Determination of hemoglobin level;
• Check the level of uric acid and other important components in the blood serum.

Diagnosis: other studies

If the lady had an eclampsia attack, in addition to the blood test, she will be assigned other procedures.

1. Chest X-ray. If necessary, X-rays of the brain can be performed (however this is done in extreme cases).
2. Examination of the child. This is very important, because during a mother's attack the fetus may develop a bradycardia, hypoxia. A placental abruption may also occur.

The diagnosis is based on the results of the above studies.

Treatment of this problem

Today, the following treatment of eclampsia is applied: a woman is injected intravenously with magnesium sulfate. The introduction of this drug significantly reduces the risk of seizures. At the same time, his activity persists for two days. Less effective drugs, which, however, doctors also appoint: drugs "Phenytoin" or "Valium." But we must remember that their use is fraught with the emergence of side effects. When the patient's condition is stabilized, doctors prepare a woman for cesarean section or artificial vaginal birth. If the timing of the bearing of the baby is extremely early, the decision on delivery can be taken only by a doctor's consultation.

Auxiliary Methods

The help with eclampsia is not only in drug treatment. So, it is very important to observe the following recommendations, if the lady has a risk of recurrence of a fit.

• Any stimuli must be eliminated immediately.
• Dr. V. V. Stroganov recommends the systematic introduction of a drug to a woman, for example, "Morphine". This will help to avoid seizures.
• Coping seizures. Those. It is worth trying to avoid their development when the first signs appear.
• It is important to monitor the performance of all body functions, the necessary - to improve.
• It is necessary to monitor the fluctuations in blood pressure. When you increase it you need to reduce it.

Preventative methods

Every pregnant woman should know about what should be the prevention of eclampsia. After all, the best way to prevent the emergence of the problem, rather than to deal with its consequences. So, the prevention of eclampsia today is carried out by the following methods.

1. Prophylactic administration of magnesium sulfate. In this case, the incidence of eclampsia is reduced by about 60%. However, this issue is still open. So, to ladies with severe preeclampsia this drug should be injected precisely. But with a light form - it is not yet clear.
2. It is also important to closely monitor fluctuations in blood pressure in a pregnant woman.
3. It is necessary to treat various complications of toxicosis. It is also important to identify their cause.

Adhering to these recommendations, you can avoid the appearance of a problem such as eclampsia. And, of course, it is worth remembering that at the first doubts or suspicions of the problem a woman should immediately seek medical help.