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Eclampsia is associated with high maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. The mortality in eclampsia is reported to be secondary to cerebrovascular accidents, neurogenic pulmonary edema, or acute kidney injury leading to cardiac arrest. A rarely reported etiology is sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) immediately after the seizure activity. We report a case of morbidly obese multigravida, complicated into postnatal eclampsia developing postseizure SCA due to apnea. Case. A 35-year-old woman in 38 weeks of gestation presented to the women’s hospital emergency with hypertension and proteinuria and had lower section caesarean section under epidural anesthesia and required labetalol infusion. She developed convulsions in the 1st postoperative day, and she was started on magnesium sulphate therapy. After a few minutes, the patient had a 2nd episode of convulsions, apnea, cyanosis, and cardiac asystole requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation and spontaneous circulation returned in 3 minutes. Her endotracheal intubation was difficult, but we succeeded in the 2nd attempt. She was sedated, ventilated, and required noradrenaline to maintain hemodynamics. Her ECG, echocardiogram, cardiac biomarkers, CT chest/brain, and serum magnesium levels were within normal range. The patient was weaned from vasopressor and ventilator by day 2 and extubated. She became awake; labetalol and magnesium sulphate infusions were stopped by day 3. The patient was transferred to the ward on day 5; from there she was discharged home on day 8 on oral labetalol. She was followed up in an outpatient clinic after 4 weeks and remained comfortable, and blood pressure was controlled with tablet labetalol and repeat echocardiogram was normal. Conclusion. Eclampsia patients can have apnea after seizures, progressing to SCA.

Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy affecting 6–12% of the population. There are various risk factors for the development of preeclampsia, ranging from advanced maternal age to genetics. The proposed etiologies for preeclampsia are abnormal placentation, immunological intolerance, endothelial damage, and genetic inheritance. The pathogenesis includes endothelial activation and dysfunction leading to vasospasm. Preeclampsia is divided into two stages: asymptomatic and symptomatic stages. Preeclampsia causes multiple organ involvement, namely central nervous system, respiratory, cardiovascular, hematological dysfunction, HELLP (hemolysis elevated liver enzymes, low platelets) syndrome, endocrine, renal, hepatic, and uteroplacental dysfunction. These organ dysfunctions increase morbidity and mortality in preeclamptic pregnant patients.

Background: Pregnancy affects a woman's susceptibility to and severity of certain infectious diseases. Central neuraxial block for analgesia during labor is superior to nonneuraxial methods in efficacy, safety, and maternal satisfaction. Although Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can be vertically transmitted from mother to fetus, little is known about the effects of COVID-19 on pregnant women or about anesthesia management and the risk of adverse effects related to neuraxial techniques in women with untreated COVID-19 during gestation. Aim: This investigation assesses the effects of neuraxial analgesia during labor of COVID-19-positive parturients on their hemodynamic stability. Results: The study was conducted on 64 patients and involved 32 parturients positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and a similar number of control “negative” patients. The affected group had an uneventful course during gestation. Seven were positive for ground-glass opacities on chest X-rays, and none underwent computed tomography (CT) scans. Two neonates were PCR-positive for SARS-CoV-2, and all 32 neonates were released from the hospital. No clinical differences were observed between the neonates in the COVID-19 and control groups. Although parturients in both groups were hemodynamically stable, hemodynamic stability was subnormal in the COVID-19 group regarding blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and body temperature. None of the women in either group required a vasopressor or oxygen supplementation during delivery. No other clinical differences were observed between the COVID-19 and control groups. Conclusion: This is the first case-controlled study testing the anesthetic implications of neuraxial labor analgesia in pregnant, COVID-19-positive women. Although management of neuraxial labor analgesia did not differ in pregnant women positive and negative for COVID-19, their hemodynamic characteristics differed significantly. Therefore, care is required to prevent adverse outcomes in pregnant women positive for COVID-19.

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