BMJ 1998;317:542 ( 22 August )

Letters

Magnesium sulphate in pre-eclampsia

    Evidence supports its use
    Still room for improvement

Evidence supports its use

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

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.1 However, 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).2 The 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 was 34. Previous studies have compared the efficacy of magnesium sulphate with that of phenytoin. Based on this evidence and using a framework for making therapeutic decisions,3 obstetricians were willing to treat pre-eclamptic women with magnesium sulphate when the risk of seizures was above 2.5% and 1.75% in . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Use of anticonvulsants in eclampsia and pre-eclampsia: survey of obstetricians in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
A Metin Gülmezoglu and Lelia Duley
BMJ 1998 316: 975-976. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Magnesium sulphate and pre-eclampsia
Lelia Duley
bmj.com, 25 Sep 1998 [Full text]
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