Material and Method: The authors conducted a case-control study of 80 Thai pregnant women with eclampsia and 240 controls with mild preeclampsia who delivered at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand between 1995 and 2011. Information was abstracted on established and hypothesized risk factors for eclampsia documented in the medical records.

Results: The risk factors that were significantly associated with eclampsia compared to mild preeclampsia after using multivariate logistic regression analysis were maternal age <20 years [adjusted odd ratio (aOR) 4.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7 to 14), antenatal care (ANC) <4 visits (aOR 3.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 9.1), deep tendon reflex (DTR) ≥3+ (aOR 15.1, 95% CI 5.3 to 42.7), serum uric acid ≥6 mg/dL (aOR 8.3, 95% CI 3.5 to 19.8), serum creatinine ≥0.9 mg/dL (aOR 18, 95% CI 4.8 to 67.5), and serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) ≥44 IU/L (aOR 15.9, 95% CI 5.6 to 45.3).

Conclusion: The risk factors of the development of eclampsia compared to mild preeclampsia are maternal age <20 years, ANC <4 visits, DTR ≥3+, serum uric acid ≥6 mg/dL, serum creatinine ≥0.9 mg/dL, and serum SGOT ≥44 IU/L. This information may be useful for obstetricians to predict which mild preeclamptic patients are at great risk for eclampsia and to consider administration of magnesium sulfate to prevent convulsion in these patients.

Keywords: Mild preeclampsia, Eclampsia, Risk factors