Cranial CT was performed in five patients with eclampsia: densitometric modifications were present in all cases. Only one patient, who later died, displayed multiple foci of cerebral haemorrhage; all others presented bilateral, symmetrical, nonenhancing hypodensities with mass effect interpreted as cerebral oedema. At CT performed 7-14 days after interruption of the pregnancy, these characteristic hypodense lesions were no longer present while neurological symptoms disappeared.