No abstract

Pre-eclampsia is a syndrome occurring in pregnancy that involves virtually every organ system. A systematic review by WHO determined that in developed countries, 16% of maternal deaths were attributed to hypertensive disorders. 1 Almost one in four mothers with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia is at risk of persistent hypertension after the puerperium. 2 Pre-eclampsia is seen to recur in pregnancies at a rate of 20%-25%. 3 In India, the incidence of pre-eclampsia is reported to be 8%-10% among pregnant women. 4 In a study by Manjusha Sajith in Pune including 1330 women visiting the antenatal clinic, the prevalence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) was 7.8% (104 women) with pre-eclampsia in 5.6% (75 women) of the study population. 5 The maternal outcomes are more likely to be adverse if preeclampsia occurs before 32 weeks of pregnancy or in association with pre-existing comorbidities such as renal disease/ pregestational type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus. 6