Clinical and Biomarkers Difference in Prepartum and Postpartum Eclampsia

BACKGROUND: There is a large body of literature which assessed the incidence and risk factors of eclampsia, but little was done in assessing the association of clinical features and biological markers with prepartum and postpartum eclampsia. METHODS: A total of 361 eclamptic women admitted to three teaching hospitals between 2008 and 2013 were included in this analysis. A comparative analysis was done for several clinical and biological variables to assess their association with prepartum and postpartum eclampsia. RESULTS: The overall incidence of eclampsia was 1.2% (prepartum 71% and postpartum 29%). The majority of women with prepartum eclampsia were young, primigravida, more hypertensive, symptomatic and proteinuric. Conversely, the majoritys of the women with post-partum eclampsia were adult, multiparous, carrying pregnancy to term, anemic, thrombocytopenic, and with hepatic dysfunction. The commonest severity symptom (headache) was less common in postpartum eclamptic women. CONCLUSION: The incidence of eclampsia was among the highest in the world. And, the analysis has shown that the clinical and biochemical spectrum of prepartum and postpartum eclampsia were apparently different. The majority of the women who developed postpartum eclampsia were multiparous and adult. Derangement of biomarkers was also more common in women with postpartum eclampsia.