Trends in eclampsia in the United States, 2009–2017 a population-based study
Trends in eclampsia in the United States, 2009–2017 a population-based study
“Maternal morbidity” is a term that includes outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- and long-term health consequences in women. One strategy that can help reduce maternal morbidity in the United States is to prevent eclampsia, a dangerous, life-threatening condition where convulsions happen in pregnant or postpartum women. Researchers in this study asked how many cases of eclampsia we have in the United States now and how have those numbers changed over the last 8 years. Researchers used the Vital Statistics birth certificate data files of almost 28 million births in a population-based, cross-sectional study from 41 US states and the District of Columbia between 2009 and 2017 (total of 27,866,714 live births).
The prevalence (meaning, how many cases) of eclampsia among all women, women with preexisting high blood pressure before pregnancy, and women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was studied. Researchers found that eclampsia was reported in 2.98% of live births (83,000 total), and they saw a small decline from 2009 to 2017. Most of the decline was seen among women with preexisting high blood pressure before pregnancy and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy between 2009 and 2017, possibly due to a better adoption of practice guidelines and improvements in clinical care. Researchers actually found a slight increase risk for eclampsia over the past 8 years among women without pre-existing or pregnancy-related high blood pressure.
Take home message: This study shows we are making progress in the US for preventing eclampsia among women who are at high-risk of eclampsia, but it also shows a need for increased public awareness about eclampsia risks because of increases risk among low-risk women, as well as more research around what causes eclampsia in low risk women.. Close surveillance and treatment of early symptoms of eclampsia is still needed.
About Research Roundup
Each quarter, our team of researchers reviews the most current studies related to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and selects those studies they feel will be of greatest interest to our community to summarize.
Special thanks to our volunteer research team, who under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Sutton, make Research Roundup possible: Alisse Hauspurg, MD Felicia LeMoine, MD Jenny Sones, PhD, DVM, and Robin Trupp, PhD, RN.
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