A Brain Tumor That Looked Like Eclampsia in Pregnancy
Original title: High-Grade Glioma Mimicking Eclampsia in Pregnancy: A Case Report.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This is one patient's story from real care, not a new treatment.
The short version
A woman's seizures in pregnancy came from a brain tumor, not eclampsia.
What was studied. Doctors wrote up the care of one woman, age 39, pregnant for the first time. She came to the hospital at 25+6 weeks of pregnancy with seizures.
What they found. Her blood pressure was very high, 200/100 mmHg. She also had protein in her urine, was confused, and had repeated seizures. Doctors first treated her for eclampsia and delivered the baby by emergency caesarean. Her brain problems did not clear up, so she had scans. The scans showed a bleeding mass in the left front of her brain. Surgeons removed it, and tests showed it was a high-grade glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells. Those are the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are given a grade from 1 to 4. The grade says how the tumor is expected to act. See the glossary. She recovered well after surgery and later had radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The baby was born at 25+6 weeks and died on day 2 of life.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Seizures late in pregnancy are most often from eclampsia. But not always. If brain problems do not get better with eclampsia care, a brain scan can help. It may find a tumor that was missed. Care like this needs a team of different specialists.
What it doesn't mean: This is one patient's story, not a study of many people. It does not test a new treatment, and it is not a cure. It also does not mean seizures in pregnancy are usually a brain tumor. That is rare. Nothing here changes your own care, which is up to your medical team.
Source: PubMed, September 28, 2026 · Read the original
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