Felix Essiben, Junie Annick Metogo Ntsama, Esther Juliette Ngo Um Meka, Etienne Belinga, Xavier Junior Ayissi Ngono, Wilfried Loïc Tatsipie, Josiane Salie Dimele, Veronique Mboua Batoum, Valere Mve Koh
Background: HELLP syndrome is a serious gravido-puerperal complication of preeclampsia. Moreover, it is associated with significant maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, such as blood transfusion, which were 8 times higher in patients with HELLP syndrome than in isolated PES and thus most often requiring immediate termination of the pregnancy. We therefore conducted a study on the factors associated with HELLP (Hemolysis Elevated Liver Enzymes and Low Platelets count) syndrome [SH] in patients with severe pre-eclampsia in three (03) hospitals in Yaoundé. Methodology: We conducted a case-control study of women admitted with severe pre-eclampsia who had or had not developed HELLP syndrome; during a period from May 2019 to May 2021 in three (3) 2nd category hospitals in Yaoundé. The sampling was consecutive and not exhaustive. We included patients with a complete medical record. Statistical analysis was done using the S.P.S.S.23.0 software. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: A total of 19 cases of HELLP syndrome were recruited and matched to 60 controls during the study period, i.e. 1 case for every 3 controls. The univariate analysis identified the following as factors favoring HELLP syndrome The univariate analysis identified the following factors as favouring HELLP syndrome: age group [15-20 years], follow-up in a health centre, antenatal visits by nurses and epigastralgia. And as a protective factor calcium supplementation. After multivariate analysis multivariate analysis, calcium supplementation was protective against HELLP syndrome OR=0.20 IC95% (0.05-0.81) p= 0.025. In addition, having a nurse as a provider of antenatal visits was significantly associated with the occurrence of HELLP syndrome, OR=5.37; IC95% (1.37-20.44). Conclusion: Maternal and fetal mortality associated with severe forms of pre-eclampsia remains high, hence the need for continuous improvement in its management. Calcium supplementation during pregnancy has significantly limited the occurrence of severe forms such as HELLP syndrome.
Published Date: 2022-03-29; Received Date: 2022-03-09