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Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia
OverviewSymptomsTreatmentPrevention

HELLP syndrome

Definition:

HELLP syndrome is a group of symptoms that occur in pregnant women who have:



Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

HELLP syndrome occurs in approximately 10% of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia may be mild or severe. Severe cases involve high blood pressure and protein in the urine and can progress to seizures (eclampsia). Severe cases are life-threatening to both mother and fetus. HELLP syndrome is associated with more serious cases.

It may occur long before a pregnancy reaches term (for example, HELLP at 30 weeks gestation). Many women have high blood pressure and are diagnosed with pre-eclampsia before they get HELLP syndrome. However, in some cases, HELLP symptoms are the first warning of pre-eclampsia and the condition is misdiagnosed as hepatitis, gallbladder disease, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.



Review Date: 1/12/2003
Reviewed By: Daniel Rein, M.D., Obstetrician and Gynecologist, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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