Preeclampsia, eclampsia, and hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets
syndrome are major obstetric disorders that are associated with substantial maternal
and perinatal morbidities. As a result, it is important that clinicians make timely
and accurate diagnoses to prevent adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes associated
with these syndromes. In general, most women will have a classic presentation of preeclampsia
(hypertension and proteinuria) at > 20 weeks of gestation and/or < 48 hours after
delivery. However, recent studies have suggested that some women will experience preeclampsia
without ≥ 1 of these classic findings and/or outside of these time periods. Atypical
cases are those that develop at < 20 weeks of gestation and > 48 hours after delivery
and that have some of the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia without the usual hypertension
or proteinuria. The purpose of this review was to increase awareness of the nonclassic
and atypical features of preeclampsia-eclampsia. In addition, a stepwise approach
toward diagnosis and treatment of patients with these atypical features is described.
Key words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: November 19, 2008
Accepted:
July 28,
2008
Received in revised form:
July 2,
2008
Received:
June 4,
2008
Footnotes
Cite this article as: Sibai BM, Stella CL. Diagnosis and management of atypical preeclampsia-eclampsia. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;200:481.e1-481.e7.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
