PURPOSE: to identify the profile, tendency and causes of maternal death by pre-eclampsia/eclampsia in Paraná. METHODS: descriptive, transversal cohort study on maternal death by pre-eclampsia/eclampsia from 1997 to 2005. Data were obtained from case studies prepared by Maternal Death Committees that employ the Reproductive Age Mortality Survey Method to examine all the cases of death among women in fertile age. The general and specific maternal death rate (MDR) by pre-eclampsia/eclampsia were considered. To evaluate the tendency, triennial periods have been compared, two by two, taking into consideration the MDR of each period (p<0.05). In the triennial period from 2003 to 2005, 56 deaths by pre-eclampsia/eclampsia were analyzed. The variables focused were: age, income, schooling, gestation number and complications, pre-natal conditions, signs and symptoms related to the condition, delivery route, the time gestation was interrupted, the newborn conditions, access and treatment, ability to avoid and prevention measures. RESULTS: the general triennial MDR has presented significant decline, with 64.3/100,000 born-alive babies. There has been stability along the period for MDR by hypertensive disorder, with MDR of 11.8/100,000 born-alive. Primiparous women, women over 40 and with low socio-economical status have presented higher risks. In relation to the treatment, there has been underuse or inadequate use of conventional medicines for severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. The committees' analysis indicated that all the maternal death due to these conditions could have been avoided. CONCLUSIONS: actions aiming at minimizing the set of causes that lead to death by pre-eclampsia in Paraná should be enforced, including the training and monitoring of health professionals in order to apply the treatment protocols, besides the formalization of a reference net of clinics and hospitals, qualified for the care of high risk pregnancy and its intercurrences, to which pre-natal pregnant women are enrolled.
Maternal mortality; Hypertension, pregnancy-induced; Pre-eclampsia; Eclampsia
