ECLAMPSIA;

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the perinatal outcome in patients with eclampsia. Study design:Descriptive study. Settings: Department of obstetrics and gynecology Nishtar Hospital Multan. Subject and Methods: Two hundred and sixtyfour pregnant ladies admitted in labor ward of Nishtar Hospital Multan diagnosed as eclampsia fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected. Nonprobability purposive sampling technique was used. All information like prematurity, intrauterine death, stillbirth, low birth weight, admission toneonatal intensive care unit(NICU) and early neonatal death was recorded on a specifically designed proforma. For perinatal complicationsladies were followed for 7 days. Data were entered and analyzed by SPSS-11. Results: Out of 6183 admissions 231(3.73%) were eclamptic.Majority of the patients 157(67.96%) were primigravida, 118(51.08%) were in groups 21-30 years. There were 117(50.61%) uneducatedpatients and 157(67.96%) patients belonged to poor socioeconomic conditions. Only 63(27.27%) were booked cases. Most of the patients132(57.14%) were diagnosed at gestation less than 37 weeks and 120(51.94%) patients delivered vaginally. Prematurity was the mostfrequent complication i.e in 131(56.70%) patients observed and 147(63.63%) neonates required admission to NICU due to various reasons.There were 13(5.62%) intrauterine deaths, 29(12.55%) stillbirths and 21(9.09%) early neonatal deaths. Conclusions: Eclampsia is still amajor threat to the pregnant ladies in our institution and a major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. It is mostly preventable by earlydiagnosis and management of pre eclampsia and hypertensive disease. As stillbirth, prematurity and birth asphyxia are the most importantcauses of perinatal loss, so in eclampsia early referral of patients, better obstetric management, early resuscitative measures and goodneonatal care facilities can improve the perinatal outcome.