Ocular ultrasonography for diagnosing increased intracranial pressure in patients with severe preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound measurements of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and optic disc height (ODH) measured outside pregnancy correlate with intracranial hypertension. Data on the usefulness of ocular ultrasonography in preeclampsia are limited. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ONSD and ODH are greater in patients with features of severe preeclampsia compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Consecutively admitted patients with severe preeclampsia (according to the ACOG Task Force on Hypertension in Pregnancy) and healthy term control pregnant women were included in this prospective observational study. Optic nerve sheath diameter measured 3 mm behind the globe and ODH were assessed using ocular ultrasonography. Patients with severe preeclampsia were compared to controls before delivery, and at one and four days post-delivery. RESULTS: We included 30 patients with severe preeclampsia and 30 controls. Optic nerve sheath diameter was significantly higher in patients with severe preeclampsia compared to controls before delivery, and one day and four days post-delivery (P <0.001). Optic disc height was significantly greater in patients with severe preeclampsia compared to controls before delivery (P <0.001), and one day (P <0.001) but not four days, post-delivery (P=0.66). Before delivery, 43% of patients with severe preeclampsia had an ONSD >5.8 mm and 77% an ODH ≥1 mm: compatible with intracranial hypertension. None of the control patients had an ONSD of >5.8 mm or an optic disc height of ≥1 mm before or after delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Severe preeclampsia was associated with a significantly higher ONSD and increased ODH, which could be ultrasonographic evidence of papilledema.

Lung and cardiac ultrasound for hemodynamic monitoring of patients with severe pre-eclampsia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate lung and cardiac ultrasound for the assessment of fluid tolerance and fluid responsiveness before and after delivery in pregnant women with severe pre-eclampsia (PE). METHODS: This was a prospective observational study of singleton pregnant women with severe PE and healthy term controls. Lung ultrasound echo comet score (ECS), which denotes the amount of extravascular lung water, was obtained using the 28-rib interspaces technique. The echocardiographic E/e' ratio, measured by pulsed-wave and tissue Doppler, was used as a marker of diastolic left ventricular function. Fluid responsiveness was assessed by measuring changes in stroke volume (SV) with passive leg raising (PLR). SV was calculated from the left ventricular flow velocity-time integral measured by pulsed-wave Doppler at baseline and after PLR. Change in SV ≥ 12% was considered to indicate fluid responsiveness. Measurements obtained 1 day before delivery and 1 and 4 days after delivery were compared in the two groups (PE vs controls). RESULTS: We included 21 women with severe PE and 12 healthy controls. ECS and E/e' ratio were higher in women with PE than in controls, both before delivery (P = 0.002 and P = 0.02) and 1 day postdelivery (P = 0.02 and P = 0.03); however there was no difference at 4 days postdelivery (P = 0.63 and P = 0.90). The change in SV with PLR before (P = 0.26) and after (P = 0.71) delivery did not differ between groups. An increase in SV ≥ 12% was observed in three (14%) women with PE and four (33%) controls before delivery and in four (19%) women with PE and two (17%) controls 1 day after delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Severe PE is associated with an increase in extravascular lung water, which could in part be caused by disturbed diastolic left ventricular function. Excess lung water can be identified by lung ultrasound assessment in women with severe PE before the appearance of clinical signs. Only a small proportion of these women are fluid responsive. Copyright © 2016 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.