HELLP syndrome
Overview
 
HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening obstetric complication usually considered to be a variant of pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia or preeclampsia is a medical condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine....

. Both conditions usually occur during the later stages of pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...

, or sometimes after childbirth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...

.

HELLP is an abbreviation of the main findings:
  • Hemolytic anemia
    Hemolytic anemia
    Hemolytic anemia is a form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells , either in the blood vessels or elsewhere in the human body . It has numerous possible causes, ranging from relatively harmless to life-threatening...

  • Elevated Liver enzymes and
  • Low Platelet count
    Thrombocytopenia
    Thrombocytopenia is a relative decrease of platelets in blood.A normal human platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. These limits are determined by the 2.5th lower and upper percentile, so values outside this range do not necessarily indicate disease...


Often, a patient who develops HELLP syndrome has already been followed up for pregnancy-induced hypertension
Pregnancy-induced hypertension
Gestational hypertension or pregnancy-induced hypertension is defined as the development of new arterial hypertension in a pregnant woman after 20 weeks gestation without the presence of protein in the urine.-Conditions:...

 (gestational hypertension), or is suspected to develop pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia or preeclampsia is a medical condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine....

 (high blood pressure and proteinuria
Proteinuria
Proteinuria means the presence of anexcess of serum proteins in the urine. The protein in the urine often causes the urine to become foamy, although foamy urine may also be caused by bilirubin in the urine , retrograde ejaculation, pneumaturia due to a fistula, or drugs such as pyridium.- Causes...

).
 
x
OK