Renal eclampsia is a very dangerous condition, accompanied by convulsions, loss of consciousness or coma. The syndrome develops rapidly, the consequence of its appearance is acute glomerulonephritis, which causes a sharp increase in blood pressure, causing cerebral edema and convulsions. This syndrome most often occurs as a result of severe toxicosis during pregnancy, but there are times when it also affects other categories of people.
Causes of the syndrome
The syndrome occurs due to severe edema, superimposed on some states of the human body. Firstly, this is pregnancy, especially often renal eclampsia is recorded in the second half of pregnancy. Secondly, it is nephropathy, as a rule, also in pregnant women. The third risk group is people with acute diffuse glomerulonephritis. In other cases of the syndrome, as a rule,chronic nephritis is to blame.
Symptomatic manifestations
Renal eclampsia is a set of conditions that coincided in one time period. That is, high blood pressure, vasoconstriction of the brain, leading to oxygen starvation of the body, sodium retention in brain cells caused by kidney damage. All this leads to a number of very bright and noticeable symptoms around. And if they are not identified in time and correctly, then it will not be possible to provide a person with timely assistance. In this case, he may fall into a coma or even die.
How to understand that a person has eclampsia
Renal eclampsia and the pathogenesis of the syndrome should be able to recognize by specific symptoms:
- A person has a sharp headache, and the pain is very strong.
- Pain causes nausea and vomiting.
- The patient loses consciousness for a period of 1 minute to a day.
- Renal eclampsia may impair vision or speech.
- Arms or legs paralyze. Can paralyze half of the face. These manifestations are temporary.
- The veins on the neck visually increase in volume.
- Eyeballs roll under the upper eye arches of the skull.
- In a state of convulsions, the patient may bite his tongue.
- Foaming from the mouth in a seizure.
- The skin turns pale dramatically.
- Breathing becomes irregular and not very deep.
The main symptom is convulsions. It can be tonic, that is, weak. Such a convulsion strikesonly one or two muscles on the arm, leg, face, and so on.
Clonic convulsions are much more dangerous. A person ceases to control his bladder and anal sphincter, they involuntarily relax. The eyes stop responding to light and what is happening around.
These signs are very similar to an epileptic seizure, but there is still a difference - severe swelling.
Since renal eclampsia is usually convulsions and a seizure, you need to know that it occurs in several stages. The first stage is accompanied by harbingers and lasts at most one minute.
At the second stage, the cramps themselves appear, but not strong, but tonic. It lasts approximately 30 seconds.
The third stage is the most dangerous, it is accompanied by clonic convulsions, a person does not control his body at all and is able to harm himself. This state lasts about 2 minutes.
The last, fourth stage is the end of the attack or resolution. The patient comes to his senses, begins to breathe normally, brain activity is restored.
Diagnostic measures
Diagnosis of renal eclampsia includes several research methods. Firstly, this is a complete history, that is, a patient's questioning about how often these seizures occur. If he has scars on his tongue, from biting during past seizures, and no swelling, then the person most likely has epilepsy. This can be confirmed by a neurologist during an additional study.
If edema is observed externally on the face or limbs, and urine has a slightly largerspecific gravity and contains blood, then a person most likely has renal eclampsia. Especially if the history indicates that he has chronic nephritis.
ECG of the brain or CT scan of the head helps rule out a stroke. It is very similar in symptoms to the syndrome, only at the same time the patient's face does not turn pale, but turns red, as a rule, there are no edema.
A high platelet count can lead to renal eclampsia, so a complete blood count is mandatory for diagnosis.
Eclampsia in pregnancy
Pregnancy is a factor that increases the risk of the syndrome. Indeed, in the process of bearing a child, a woman's body undergoes strong changes, especially in metabolism and hormonal levels. This can cause an increase in platelets in the blood, that is, the risk of blockage of large vessels and oxygen deficiency in the brain as a result.
Severe lack of oxygen and trace elements in the uterus can kill the fetus. In a pregnant woman, not only the kidneys can fail, but also the lungs (as a result of thrombosis).
Thus, it becomes clear that a pregnant woman needs to carefully monitor her he alth and avoid conditions that can cause the syndrome.
Renal eclampsia - emergency care
A patient in a state of seizure can accidentally injure himself by biting his tongue or hitting his head on a hard object. In addition, at this moment, there is a high probability of cerebral edema and a violation of its basic functions. All this calls for renal eclampsia to provideemergency patient care. The patient himself or his relatives should call an ambulance at the onset of a seizure.
Immediately at the beginning of an attack, you need to lay the patient on a flat surface, you can even on the floor. Don't put a pillow under your head.
The person's face should be turned to the side, then the risk of falling tongue and the likelihood of choking with saliva is reduced.
Windows in the house should be open, this is necessary for the flow of fresh air. If the incident occurred on the street, then you need to free the neck of the victim from clothing that restricts breathing.
If a person's breathing in a seizure has become uneven, shallow or stopped altogether, you need to make him artificial ventilation of the lungs, inhaling air through the mouth. In this case, the nose must be clamped, and the head should be thrown back to open the airways. If the person is conscious during the seizure, give them a nitroglycerin tablet.
Principles of treatment
The treatment of the syndrome is complex, first of all, symptoms that are dangerous to he alth are removed. So, convulsions are treated with drugs "Seduxen", "Droperidol" or "Promedol". The type of drug and dosage is selected depending on the condition of the patient and the severity of the seizure.
Blood pressure is normalized with Clonidine, Dibazol or Eufillin.
There is also a universal remedy that can simultaneously reduce blood pressure and relieve spasm. This is magnesium sulfate administered intravenously. A fence can help urgentlythe patient a small amount of blood, approximately 400-500 gr. This has a positive effect on intracranial pressure.
If the initial therapy does not bring relief, then the patient is given a lumbar puncture. The flowing fluid allows intracranial pressure to normalize.
Propaedeutics of renal eclampsia is removed by powerful painkillers. Since renal colic can cause pain shock and death of the patient, drugs for rapid absorption are administered intravenously.
Follow-up Therapy
Further treatment is aimed at eliminating the very cause of the syndrome. Therapy is carried out in stationary conditions. Most often it is the treatment of chronic or acute nephritis. During the recovery period, the patient takes diuretics and adheres to a strict diet that excludes foods containing s alt and other harmful impurities from the diet. It is also limited in fluid intake, as it is necessary to remove puffiness.
Possible Complications
The most common complication of renal eclampsia is a heart attack caused by pain, or cerebral hemorrhage. In both cases, the patient is highly likely to die, especially if he was not provided with urgent medical care.
Pregnant women are also at risk of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Mortality in this case reaches almost 100% of cases.
Fortunately, the disease itself is extremely rare and complications rarely occur. ATnumerically, it looks like this - 1% of pregnant women experience this syndrome, and only 0.01% have complications.
Prevention measures
To reduce the risk of renal eclampsia and the severity of its consequences, it is necessary to take preventive measures. Firstly, during pregnancy or during its planning period, it is necessary to undergo preventive treatment of the kidneys and adrenal glands. If, as a result of the examination, a woman is found to have chronic nephritis, then she is not recommended to become pregnant until she is completely cured.
During the entire pregnancy, you must regularly visit a doctor and take all the necessary tests. This helps to identify the developing pathology in the early stages and cure it.
It is very important to understand that neuropathy can lead not only to a syndrome that causes convulsions, but also to a violation of the hormonal background in the blood. And this will definitely affect the condition and development of the fetus.
In order not to miss the development of kidney pathology, for example, inflammation, accumulation of sand and stones in the ureters, it is necessary to undergo regular medical examinations. This applies not only to pregnant women, but also to citizens of all ages and categories. Such an inspection should be carried out at least once every six months. This is especially important for the elderly.
Conclusion and conclusions
Renal eclampsia is a rare but extremely dangerous condition that requires urgent medical attention. Knowledge about its symptoms, principles of treatment, and most importantly - about first aid,can save more than one life.
