Severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in Abha, the south west region of Saudi Arabia

A retrospective study was conducted over a 10-year period on 32,000 maternities at Abha General Hospital, Abha, Saudi Arabia, to estimate the contribution of eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia to maternal mortality and morbidity and also fetal wastage. It included 18 cases of eclampsia and 297 cases of severe pre-eclampsia. Multiple regression analysis revealed that only the presence of prodromal symptoms significantly affected the occurrence of eclampsia, p < 0.05, while nulliparous patients were a high risk group for eclampsia. Maternal complications including eight cases of massive ascites occurred exclusively in severe pre-eclamptics. Although no maternal deaths were reported, the perinatal mortality rate was 16.6% and 14.1% among the eclamptics and severe pre-eclamptic patients, mainly from prematurity. Regarding the eclamptic patients, 17(94.4%) had the first fit before arrival at the hospital, 13(72.2%) before labour, while 3(16.6%) had fits before and during labour and 1(5.6%) had the fits after delivery. Suggestions are proffered to reducing maternal morbidity and perinatal mortality and morbidity. © 2007 Informa UK Ltd.