PREGNANCY

What is it?
HELLP syndrome stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets. It is an uncommon pregnancy disease that is related to pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-related high blood pressure), occurring in approximately one percent of all pregnancies.

Essentially, HELLP is a “sick cell” syndrome which affects the liver and the platelets. When a woman develops HELLP, her red blood cells are damaged, the liver malfunctions and the capacity to clot blood is diminished. “It’s a potentially dangerous condition that can cause death or permanent disability,” says Jon Barrett, chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, “but if it’s diagnosed quickly, and treated, the recovery is usually 100 percent.”

What causes it?
This remains a mystery. Barrett speculates that HELLP begins as the placenta is implanting, when the mother’s body reacts to the father’s DNA as a foreign body. But researchers don’t yet fully understand what causes HELLP, nor do they agree on whether pre-eclampsia is a prerequisite.

What are the symptoms?
HELLP is tricky to diagnose because its symptoms range from barely noticeable to severe.

Symptoms, which usually appear after the 20th week, include:
• general malaise
• epigastric pain (pain around the liver — top part of abdomen, right side — a telling symptom)
• nausea and vomiting
• headache
• fluid retention
• changes in vision

Because most of these are non-specific in the early stages, HELLP is frequently misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all, and that’s when the disease is so dangerous. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s best to request a blood and liver function test to rule out HELLP.

Originally published in Today's Parent Pregnancy & Birth, Winter 2005