Review of eclampsia at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University teaching hospital, Nnewi (January 1996-December 2000).

In a retrospective study of 43 cases of eclampsia managed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi over a 5-year period, an incidence of 0.75% out of 5750 labour ward admissions was found. Eclampsia was more prevalent in the primigravidae (65%) and unbooked patients (83.7%) than in the multigravidae (35%) and booked (16.3%) patients. The mean age of the patients was 23.5 years. The majority of the eclamptic seizure (55.8%) occurred in the antepartum period. Many unbooked patients presented after more than two seizures. The most frequently used drugs in the management of eclampsia in the hospital were intravenous diazepam and hydralazine. For the 35 cases of antepartum eclampsia, 85.7% had a caesarean section while 14.3% had an operative vaginal delivery; none had a spontaneous vaginal delivery. There were four maternal deaths (9.3% of the cases) and seven perinatal deaths (16.3% of the cases). Clinical causes of death in the women were cardiopulmonary failure (three cases) and coagulation disorders (one case). The total maternal deaths in the hospital during this period was 19 given a maternal mortality rate of 330 per 100 000. Eclampsia, therefore, contributed 21.1% of the maternal deaths. The role of health education and good antenatal, labour and early puerperal supervision is stressed in the reduction of the incidence of eclampsia in the developing countries.