Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy

Abstract

ACUTE fatty liver of pregnancy is a potentially fatal, uncommon disorder that may complicate the third trimester of pregnancy. If unrecognized or untreated, the disorder may progress to fulminant hepatic failure with jaundice, encephalopathy, disseminated intravascular coagulation, uncontrollable gastrointestinal and uterine bleeding, and death. Until the late 1970s the disease had a dismal prognosis, with fetal and maternal mortality rates as high as 85 per cent.^{1 , 2} Early recognition of the disorder, rapid termination of pregnancy once the diagnosis has been made, and intensive supportive treatment have brightened the outlook considerably. Fetal and maternal mortality rates are now as low as . . .