RT Book, Section A1 Stafford, Irene A. A1 Clark, Steven L. A1 Dildy, Gary A. A2 Foley, Michael R. A2 Strong, Jr, Thomas H. A2 Garite, Thomas J. SR Print(0) ID 1152537225 T1 Amniotic Fluid Embolism T2 Obstetric Intensive Care Manual, 5e YR 1 FD 1 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781259861758 LK obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1152537225 RD 2024/10/03 AB Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a catastrophic syndrome typically occurring during labor and delivery or immediately postpartum. Although presenting symptoms may vary, the most common clinical features include shortness of breath, altered mental status, followed by sudden cardiovascular collapse, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and often maternal death. The diagnosis remains clinical and involves a triad of sudden hypoxia and hypotension followed by coagulopathy with the exclusion of any other likely cause. The first case report of AFE was published in a 1926 Brazilian medical journal1 and AFE was recognized as a syndrome in 1941, when two investigators in Chicago described fetal mucin and squamous cells during postmortem examination of the pulmonary vasculature in women who had unexplained obstetric deaths.2 Since then, over 1000 studies, case reports, and series have been published in an attempt to elucidate the etiology, risk factors, pathogenesis, and treatment of this mysterious obstetric complication.