Incongruence of Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzyme, Low-Platelet Count Syndrome (HELLP) and Preeclampsia Criteria in Pregnancy: Implications for Medical Education and Obstetrics Training

TL;DR

This paper argues that HELLP syndrome and preeclampsia are distinct pregnancy complications and should be taught separately to improve medical education and patient care.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates through literature analysis that HELLP and preeclampsia are distinct, not subsets of a single disease.

Findings

HELLP and preeclampsia have unique diagnostic criteria, pathophysiology, and treatment.

Teaching HELLP and preeclampsia as separate entities improves long-term understanding and patient care.

Current medical education materials often incorrectly present HELLP as a subset of preeclampsia.

Abstract

There is conflicting information in the medical literature regarding hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome (HELLP) and preeclampsia and whether they are subsets of a single disease or distinct complications of pregnancy. In numerous places, HELLP is described as a severe form or later stage of preeclampsia. However, a detailed medical literature search utilizing NCBI, PubMed, and Elicit: The AI Research Assistant clearly demonstrates that HELLP and preeclampsia are distinct diseases. While they share similarities, each one has unique diagnostic criteria, pathophysiology, and treatment. We believe that these entities should be taught as separate entities to medical students and residents because this will result in better patient care. Medical educational theories, including constructivism, demonstrate that initial learning experiences heavily influence future learning. The joining of HELLP and preeclampsia in medical school teaching materials is detrimental to students' and trainees' long-term understanding of these two serious complications of pregnancy.