Critical illness in pregnancy: an overview

Abstract

Objectives: To provide an overview of the critical illnesses that afflict the pregnant patient.

Design: A comprehensive review of the literature was performed with Pubmed Medline using medical subject headings of pregnancy, critical care, epidemiology, prognostic score, dyspnea, fever, and jaundice.

Results: Although pregnant women constitute a small number of admissions to an intensive care unit, they pose a challenge to the health care team. The physiological changes that occur in pregnancy stress and limit the compensatory response required to adapt to a superimposed acute illness. Although a number of conditions are uniquely associated with pregnancy, other medical conditions may complicate the course of pregnancy. The pregnant state also increases susceptibility to a number of illnesses. In this overview, we reviewed the epidemiology and different clinical presentations of critical illness in a pregnant patient.

Conclusions: The critically ill pregnant patient presents a challenge to the critical care physician due to unique physiology and specific medical disorders in this population.