Risk factors for eclampsia in pregnant women with preeclampsia and positive neurosensory signs

In Morocco, eclampsia remains the second major cause of maternal mortality. Conventionally, patients with preeclampsia and neurosensory signs (NSS) (e.g., headaches and hyperreflexia) are considered at high risk of worsening and progressing to eclampsia. However, this specific population is heterogeneous in terms of eclampsia occurrence. We aimed to identify the risk factors for the development of eclampsia in women with preeclampsia presenting with NSS at admission. We performed a single-center, retrospective case-control study of patients with preeclampsia with positive NSS from January 1 , 2012 through December 31 , 2015, to investigate predictive factors for eclamptic seizures. The case patients were pregnant women with severe preeclampsia who had NSS before developing eclampsia. Control subjects were those with positive NSS without the development of seizures during their hospital stay. One hundred-thirty eight patients with eclampsia and 272 control patients were enrolled. Univariate analysis revealed that eclampsia was more likely to develop in patients with the following risk factors: maternal age ≤25 years (χ2=9.58, p=0.002), primiparity (χ2=6.38, p=0.011), inadequate prenatal care (χ2=11.62, p=0.001), systolic hypertension ≥160 mmHg (χ2=15.31, p