Clinical background of preeclampsia in Japanese women.

In Japan, the maternal mortality rate from preeclampsia is still high. In this study, we analyzed the clinical background of 70(1.5%) cases of severe preeclampsia in 4,633 deliveries in our clinic. The main family history was hypertension (34.2%). The medical complication of this pregnancy were nephritis (11.4%), hypertension (5.7%) and diabetes mellitus (4.3%). In previous obstetrical complication, preeclampsia was found very high frequency (44.4%). In this pregnancy, the cesarean section was done for 15 (21.4%) cases. There was a significant high frequency of low birth weight infant in preeclampsia (2,400 +/- 925 gr, mean +/- S.D.). The stillbirth was found in 12 (17.1%) cases. The perinatal mortality rate was 169/1,000 deliveries, this was a significantly higher than total rate (15/1,000 deliveries). These data suggest that it is important to control medical complications before to be pregnant to prevent preeclampsia.