Acute fatty liver of pregnancy. A reassessment based on observations in nine patients

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-1-1987

Journal

Annals of Internal Medicine

Volume

106

Issue

5

DOI

10.7326/0003-4819-106-5-703

Abstract

Acute fatty liver of pregnancy was diagnosed in nine patients over a 10-year period. Eight patients had severe hepatic dysfunction typical for this syndrome and one had subclinical disease but typical hepatic histologic findings. All patients survived with little fetal wastage; all had preeclampsia. Histologic findings included cholestasis, hepatocellular necrosis, and inflammation, as well as microvesicular fat. Histologic findings from biopsy specimens of four of seven patients were initially misinterpreted as hepatitis. This disorder may have both a broad clinical and histologic spectrum; it is probably not rare but often misdiagnosed, perhaps as viral hepatitis. The concurrence of this disorder with toxemia of pregnancy suggests that these entities may be pathophysiologically related.

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