THUR 263 5 year review of our specialist obstetric-neurology clinic

Abstract

IntroductionThe confidential enquiry into maternal deaths has shown that neurological disorders are the second most frequent cause of indirect maternal death and lack of access to a specialist service was the main factor contributing to the number of preventable deaths.MethodWe looked at our local joint neuro-obstetric clinic over a 5 year period and studied the number of patients seen each year, the diagnosis, list of current medications and the referral route.ResultsThe numbers of new patients seen in the clinic each year increased from 27 in 2013 up to 62 in 2017. Epilepsy was the commonest presentation, followed closely by migraines and then multiple sclerosis. With regards to medications, a third of epileptic patients were on dual anti-epileptic therapy and there were still patients taking sodium valproate at presentation. Initial referrals to the clinic were mainly from the local midwife-lead antenatal service. More recently, there has been a significant increase in referrals from the local neurology service and other allied specialties.ConclusionThis data confirms that the number of patients seen in our service has more than doubled over the 5 year period, largely as a result of increased awareness of our easy-to-access multi-disciplinary clinic.