A Case of Late Postpartum Eclampsia 14 Days after Delivery / 대한간질학회지

ABSTRACT

Eclampsia is a syndrome characterized by pregnancy-induced hypertension, edema, proteinuria, and generalized tonic-clonic convulsions, occurring between 20 and 40 weeks of gestation or within 48 hours of postpartum. A convulsion that shows up more than 48 hours after delivery is late postpartum eclampsia. A 40-year-old woman was admitted due to a headache and generalized tonic-clonic seizures in 14 days of postpartum. Two months prior to the admission, she had been admitted to the hospital because of mild proteinuria. Her blood pressure on arrival was 160/100 mmHg. There were no focal neurologic signs. She was given lorazepam and valproate sodium intravenously and her convulsion was stopped. A brain MRI showed multiple bilateral high signal intensities in the both deep white matter and the parieto-occipital cortex. Cerebral angiography showed a diffuse vasospasm. We report a patient with late postpartum eclampsia occurring 14 days after parturition whose seizures was accompanied by preceding headache and proteinuria as a pre-eclamptic sign.