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Because the risk of eclampsia is unpredictable and often not easily related to physical signs such as the degree of high blood pressure, an anticonvulsant (seizure prevention medication) is usually given to women in labor with preeclampsia. Magnesium sulfate is a safe drug for both the mother and the fetus when used to prevent seizures.
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The treatment for preeclampsia is bedrest and delivery as soon as it is safe for the fetus. Patients are usually hospitalized, but occasionally may be managed on an outpatient basis with careful monitoring of blood pressure, urine protein, and weight gain.
Medication may be used to lower the elevated blood pressure. The goal is to manage the condition until 36 weeks of the pregnancy have passed. The condition is then relieved with the delivery of the baby.
Delivery may be induced if any of the following occur:
- Diastolic blood pressure of greater than 110 mmHg consistently for a 6-hour period
- Persistent or severe headache
- Epigastric (stomach region) pain
- Abnormal liver function tests
- Rising serum creatinine
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HELLP syndrome
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Pulmonary edema (fluid in lungs)
- Eclampsia
- Thrombocytopenia
- Abnormal fetal heart pattern
- Failure of fetal growth noted by ultrasound
Delivery is the treatment of choice for eclampsia in a pregnancy over 28 weeks. For pregnancies less than 24 weeks, the induction of labor is recommended, although the likelihood of a viable fetus is minimal.
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