Pre-eclampsia and the HELLP syndrome.

A case of HELLP (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) and its implications for the country family practitioner- obstetrician is described. The author discusses pre-eclampsia as a multiorgan pathophysiological process, which can present as variants not necessarily in a chronological order of severity. He recommends that it would be reasonable to screen at risk patients with a full blood examination and multiple biochemical analysis from 32 weeks.