Background
HELLP syndrome—hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count—is a severe pregnancy complication associated with substantial maternal and perinatal morbidity. Published data from Venezuela remain limited, and historical hospital cohorts can provide useful descriptive information when their methodological limitations are explicitly recognized.
Objective
To describe demographic and obstetric characteristics, clinical and laboratory features, and maternal and fetal-neonatal complications among patients with a chart-documented diagnosis of HELLP syndrome at a high-risk maternity service in Venezuela.
Methods
We performed a retrospective, descriptive, single-center medical-record review of 106 patients treated at the Maternidad de Alto Riesgo Hugo Chávez, Ciudad Hospitalaria Dr. Enrique Tejera, Valencia, Venezuela, from May 2019 through May 2020. Eligible records had a chart-documented diagnosis of HELLP syndrome and available laboratory studies. Analyses were descriptive, and exact binomial 95% confidence intervals were calculated post hoc for key complication and mortality proportions.
Results
Among 106 patients, 74 (69.8%) were recorded in the preterm gestational-age category. Headache was documented in 76 (71.7%), nausea in 54 (50.9%), and epigastric pain in 45 (42.5%). Hemolysis was recorded in 74 (69.8%), elevated liver enzymes in 105 (99.1%), and thrombocytopenia in 79 (74.5%). At least one maternal complication occurred in 53 patients (50.0%; 95% CI, 40.1%–59.9%), while at least one fetal-neonatal complication occurred in 83 pregnancies (78.3%; 95% CI, 69.2%–85.7%). No maternal deaths were reported, and five fetal deaths were recorded.
Conclusion
This historical single-center series demonstrates a substantial burden of maternal and fetal-neonatal complications among patients with a chart-documented HELLP diagnosis. Because the study lacked a comparator group, uniform patient-level diagnostic adjudication, and patient-level data for reanalysis, the findings should be interpreted as descriptive regional evidence rather than as estimates of causal associations or independent risk factors.
