What is eclampsia?
Eclampsia, which means “to shine forth,” is a state characterized by the neurologic complications of seizures and/or coma, presenting in a pregnant patient with preeclampsia (i.e., with signs of hypertension and proteinuria with or without edema).
The risk factors for preeclampsia include nulliparity, high body mass index, family history of preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, and previous history of preeclampsia.
Eclampsia occurs in 0.05% to 0.2% of all pregnancies extending beyond the 20th week of gestation.
Seizures or coma develops in 50% of eclamptic patients prior to the onset of labor, with an additional 25% becoming symptomatic during labor.
The remaining 25% of eclamptic patients have onset of symptoms after delivery, usually within the first 24 hours postpartum.
The differential diagnosis for eclampsia includes posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, stroke, hypertensive encephalopathy, epilepsy, brain neoplasms and abscesses, meningitis/encephalitis, and metabolic diseases such as hypoglycemia or hypocalcemia.
