Target organ injury in preeclampsia – eclampsia. Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital, Cuenca

Abstract

Introduction:  preeclampsia and eclampsia are frequent complications during pregnancy or the puerperium. They are part of the hypertensive disorders that constitute the main cause of maternal death in Ecuador and the one of the first worldwide. Its timely diagnosis and treatment allows to avoid complications at the level of the target organs.

Objective: to determine the frequency of affectation of the target organs by preeclampsia and eclampsia, at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital, year 2017.

Methodology: It is a descriptive study, which compiles information from 195 patients diagnosed with preeclampsia and eclampsia at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital in 2017; using a previously prepared form. The data analysis was performed in the SPSSv19 program, determining the relative and absolute frequencies, of the nominal and ordinal qualitative variables. The data is presented in simple and cross tables.

Results: from a total of 6356 patients, 189 presented preeclampsia and 6 eclampsia. Of the patients with preeclampsia, 32.8% show signs of severity; 69.8% have a positive proteinuria/creatinuria index and 84.1% have uric acid values greater than 4.5 mg/dl. In patients with eclampsia, the main alteration is proteinuria.

Conclusion: the main target organ affected in preeclampsia-eclampsia is the kidney, followed by the liver.