Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia at Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1987-1989).

In Ethiopia, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia was reported to be uncommon. A clinical analysis of 327 (4.8%) pre-eclamptic and 21 (0.3%) eclamptic patients in 6766 deliveries at Yekatit 12 Hospital, Addis Ababa was made. Out of 327 pre-eclamptics, there were 52 (15.9%) cases of mild, 142 (43.4%) cases of moderate and 133 (40.7%) cases of severe pre-eclampsia. Among patients with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, 78.2% had no antenatal care and only 39.3% of women from the total number of deliveries were unbooked. There were significantly high frequency of low birth-weight babies of patients with severe pre-eclampsia (mean +/- SD) 2154 +/- 506gms compared to the mean birth-weight of babies from the total number of deliveries 3112 +/- 461gms). In both pre-eclamptic and eclamptic patients, the perinatal mortality rate was 165 per 100 deliveries. This was a significantly higher rate than the total rate (28 per 1000 deliveries). These data suggest that this condition is more common in Ethiopian patients than presently appreciated and antenatal care among other factors remains to be one of the cornerstones in the prevention and control of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.