Preeclampsia: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

 Preeclampsia Diagnosis

Preeclampsia is frequently diagnosed when your healthcare professional examines your weight growth, blood pressure, and urine during standard prenatal visits. Your healthcare professional might do the following if preeclampsia is suspected:

• Monitor the health of your kidneys and liver
• Do additional blood tests
• Consider collecting urine for 24 hours to check for proteinuria
• Examine the fetus' size and gauge the amount of amniotic fluid by using an ultrasound and other prenatal monitoring techniques.

There are two levels of preeclampsia: mild and severe. If you have high blood pressure together with high quantities of protein in your urine, you can be given the diagnosis of mild preeclampsia. If you have mild preeclampsia symptoms plus any of the following, you are likely to have severe preeclampsia:

• indicators of liver or kidney disease (seen in blood work)
• low level of platelets
• the liquid in your lungs
• dizziness and headaches
• loss of vision or the presence of spots in your vision

Preeclampsia Treatment

The ideal course of treatment for preeclampsia will be recommended by your healthcare practitioner. The severity of your preeclampsia and the stage of your pregnancy will largely determine the course of treatment.

Your baby will likely be delivered early if you are nearly at full term (37 weeks or more). You can still give birth vaginally, although a Cesarean section (C-section) may be advised in some cases. Your doctor may prescribe medicine to lower your blood pressure and aid with the development of the fetus's lungs until the baby can be delivered. Sometimes it is safer to deliver the child sooner than to take the chance of having a longer pregnancy.

You will be closely monitored if preeclampsia appears earlier in pregnancy in an effort to keep you pregnant longer and give the fetus more time to grow and develop. Further prenatal checkups will be scheduled for you, including ultrasounds, urine tests, and blood tests. Your blood pressure may need to be checked at home. If preeclampsia is identified as severe, you might stay in the hospital until your baby is born.

Your baby will need to be delivered if the preeclampsia progresses or gets more serious.

People with preeclampsia are frequently administered magnesium intravenously (straight into a vein) during labor and after delivery to stop the development of eclampsia (seizures from preeclampsia).

Preeclampsia Prevention

There are several actions that can be performed before and throughout pregnancy by those who are at risk to lessen their risk of preeclampsia. Preventative measures could involve the following:

• Managing your weight
• Managing your blood sugar and blood pressure
• Keeping up with exercise
• Getting sufficient rest
• Eating healthy food and abstaining from caffeine

 References

Magee, L. A., Nicolaides, K. H., & Von Dadelszen, P. (2022). Preeclampsia. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(19), 1817-1832.

Ramos, J. G. L., Sass, N., & Costa, S. H. M. (2017). Preeclampsia. Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia/RBGO Gynecology and Obstetrics, 39(09), 496-512.

Redman, C. W., & Sargent, I. L. (2005). Latest advances in understanding preeclampsia. Science, 308(5728), 1592-1594.

Roberts, J. M., & Gammill, H. S. (2005). Preeclampsia: recent insights. Hypertension, 46(6), 1243-1249.

Wagner, L. K. (2004). Diagnosis and management of preeclampsia. American family physician, 70(12), 2317-2324.