Complications of Pre-eclampsia
➧ The course of pre-eclampsia can be complicated by mild to severe coagulopathy even in the presence of a normal platelet count.
➧ Severe maternal complications include antepartum hemorrhage due to placental abruption, eclampsia, cerebrovascular accidents, organ failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).
➧ Deaths are due to intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, acute pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, and hepatic failure or rupture.
➧ Eclampsia is the occurrence of seizures in a woman with pre-eclampsia that cannot be attributed to other causes. The seizures are grand mal and may appear before, during, or after labor. Seizures that develop more than 48 h. postpartum may be encountered up to 10 days postpartum.
➧ Maternal endothelial dysfunction can last for years after the episode of pre-eclampsia. A history of pre-eclampsia is associated with a doubling of the risk for cardiac, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease compared to women without such a risk factor. Furthermore, such women have an increased risk for renal diseases, such as Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and microalbuminuria, hypertension, and ischemic heart disease, in later life.
➧ Pre-eclampsia is the leading cause of fetal growth restriction, intrauterine fetal demise, and preterm birth.
➧ The children born after pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have also been shown to be at high risk for complications like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. The pathogenesis of this increased risk has been contributed to fetal malnutrition, epigenetic modification, and postnatal growth acceleration.
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