Posterior reversible encephalopathy with late postpartum eclampsia and short-term memory loss: a case report

Late postpartum eclampsia is more frequently recognized than past reports indicate. This report describes the association of a reversible encephalopathy in a woman with late postpartum eclampsia.

A woman with lupus nephritis presented 7 days postpartum with eclampsia. Postseizure findings included dramatic short-term memory loss. Although a computed tomography scan was negative, subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) demonstrated vascular changes associated with a reversible encephalopathy. Conservative treatment with analeptic and antihypertensive therapy allowed a rapid resolution of all symptomatology.

In women with eclampsia and unusual neurologic findings, an MRI/MRA may be useful even in the presence of a negative computed tomography scan.