HELLP syndrome is a disease that can occur during pregnancy. It affects about one to two out of every 300 pregnancies. Women who already suffer from gestational gestation (pre-eclampsia or also commonly known as pregnancy poisoning) during pregnancy develop HELLP syndrome in up to 12% of cases.
It is therefore also considered a particularly severe form of pre-eclampsia. HELLP is an abbreviation for the various symptoms that characterize the disease. H stands for Haemolysis, E and L for Elevated Liver Enzyme Levels and L and P for Low Platelet Count. Since HELLP syndrome is one of the high blood pressure disorders and can be very dangerous during pregnancy, HELLP syndrome is a serious condition that requires hospitalization. Untreated, HELLP syndrome can be life-threatening for mother and child.
Cause
The exact cause of the HELLP syndrome could not be clarified so far. It is suspected that there is damage to blood vessels in the placenta, which causes a massive drop in platelets as part of excessive blood clotting. This could be caused by a change in the development of the placenta during early pregnancy. As a result, the placenta is less well supplied with blood and reacts by releasing various messenger substances, which lead to an inflammatory reaction and generalized blood clotting in the maternal organism.
Symptoms
The symptoms of HELLP syndrome are manifold. On the one hand, there are the classic symptoms of pre-emclampsia: high blood pressure and increased protein in the urine. In addition, there is usually severe pain in the right upper abdomen, which is caused by an enlargement of the liver.
The pain can also radiate into the back. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea can also occur. For this reason the HELLP syndrome is often initially confused with a gastrointestinal infection.
Other symptoms can also occur, such as visual disturbances (flickering eyes, double vision, sensitivity to light), headaches or itching of the skin. If the HELLP syndrome remains untreated, it can deteriorate enormously and lead to shock symptoms. This can then be accompanied by kidney failure, pulmonary oedema (accumulation of fluid in the lungs), cerebral haemorrhage due to a rupture of a blood vessel or a rupture of the liver. HELLP syndrome usually occurs in the last third of pregnancy.
