Abstract

CASTILLO GONZALEZ, Dunia de la C. HELLP Syndrome: Updating. Rev Cubana Hematol Inmunol Hemoter [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.1, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-2996.

The HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count) belongs to the group of the thrombotic microangiopathies characterized by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and organ dysfunction. In the HELLP, the elevation of hepatic enzymes is detected as a result of severe hepatocellular damage secondary to the fibrin deposition in the hepatic sinusoids. It appears between 0.5 and 0.9 % of the total of gestations and from 4 to 14 % of all the women that develop preeclampsia/eclampsia. The clinical manifestations vary from general symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue and vomits, to severe forms as loss of vision, and hepatic and intracranial hemorrhage, among others. In most of the patients, the syndrome appears between the 27th and the 37th week of gestation, but it can also be observed in puerperium, from the first moments after delivery up to 7 days later, with a peak of incidence at 48 hours. The maternal mortality associated with this syndrome is 1-24 %, whereas the perinatal is over 40 %, both are closely related to the diagnosis and the maternal and fetal conditions. It is important to make the differential diagnosis with the acute hepatic necrosis of pregnancy. The treatment is aimed at interrupting gestation, preventing convulsions, controlling the arterial hypertension associated with this syndrome, that is observed between 82 and 88 % of the cases, and the associated coagulation disorders. Plasmapheresis, corticosteroids, and liver transplantation, are some of the other therapeutic measures used

Keywords : HELLP; hemolytic anemia; thrombocytopenia; hepatic failure; preeclampsia.