Abstract

VELUMANI, Varsha; DURAN CARDENAS, Cassandra  and  HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ, Laura Silvia. Preeclampsia: a look at a deadly disease. Rev. Fac. Med. (Méx.) [online]. 2021, vol.64, n.5, pp.7-18.  Epub Feb 03, 2022. ISSN 2448-4865.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fm.24484865e.2021.64.5.02.

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are particularly challenging since the pathology and its therapeutic management simultaneously affect the mother and fetus, sometimes putting their lives in danger. Preeclampsia is one of the most feared complications of pregnancy, this being one of the pathologies with the highest maternal and perinatal mortality. Preeclampsia is defined as sustained blood pressure levels above 140/90 mmHg associated with proteinuria in pregnant women with gestational age over 20 weeks. Often it presents as recent onset hypertension and proteinuria during the third quarter, preeclampsia can progress rapidly to serious complications, including the death of the mother and the fetus. For this reason, it is of great importance to maintain an adequate follow-up in prenatal controls to document the presence of risk factors, signs and symptoms that lead us to a possible diagnosis as well as severity criteria to avoid reaching as critical phases as are the HELLP syndrome or Eclampsia among others.

Keywords : Preeclampsia; pregnancy; gestational hypertension.