Letter

Magnesium sulphate in pre-eclampsia

BMJ 1998; 317 doi: 10.1136/bmj.317.7157.542a (Published 22 August 1998)
Cite this as: BMJ 1998;317:542.2

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Evidence supports its use

  1. T Justin Clark, Specialist registrar,
  2. Khalid S Khan, Lecturer,
  3. Patrick F W Chien, Seniorlecturer
  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Birmingham Women's Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TG
  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee DD1 9SY
  3. Hull Maternity Hospital, Hull HU9 5LX

    EDITOR—Gulmezoglu and Duley state that although magnesium sulphate is acknowledged as the preferred anticonvulsant for eclamptic women, there is little evidence to support or refute the use of anticonvulsants in pre-eclampsia.1However, a large placebo controlled randomised trial on the use of magnesium sulphate in severe pre-eclampsia has recently been published.2

    Magnesium sulphate was found to be highly effective in severe pre-eclampsia (relative risk 0.09, 95% confidence interval 0.01 to 0.69).2The risk of seizures without magnesium sulphate was 3.2%, and the number of women with severe pre-eclampsia who needed to be treated with magnesium sulphate to prevent one case of eclampsia …

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