Fulminant peripartum pulmonary embolism leads to maternal cardiac arrest and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Abstract

Pulmonary embolism (PE) risk is greater in women during pregnancy or puerperium. If indeed the peripartum pulmonary embolism is not recognized early and treated appropriately, it could have catastrophic consequences. We therefore present a case of a pregnant woman who unfortunately went from undiagnosed peripartum pulmonary embolism and had a crisis during delivery. She eventually had cardiac arrest and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as complications. We emphasize early recognition and prompt treatment of pulmonary embolism in order to prevent such serious complications in pregnant women. We discuss about the clinical condition of our patient and make contrasts based on previous literature.

Abbreviations: CPR - Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; GCS - Glasgow Coma Scale; GDM - gestational diabetes mellitus; IVI - intravenous infusion PE - Pulmonary embolism; ROSC - return of spontaneous circulation;

Keywords: Pulmonary embolism; pregnancy, cardiac arrest; hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Citation: Hehsan MR, Saidi MFIM, Mansor MM, Shoib MS. Fulminant peripartum pulmonary embolism leads to maternal cardiac arrest and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2024;28(2):384−287; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v28i2.2416

Received: April 05, 2023; Revised: February 09, 2024; Accepted: February 29, 2024