Clinicobiochemical Parameters and Predictors of Liver Disease in Hospitalized Asian Indian Pregnant Women in a Tertiary Care Center in Northern India

Introduction  During pregnancy, liver dysfunction is more frequent than expected and may require specialized care. For the early diagnosis, it is important to determine if changes in liver physiology may develop into liver disease. Liver disease during pregnancy may require intervention from a hepatologist for adequate monitoring of mother-fetus health outcomes. This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical profile and predictors of maternal mortality in patients with liver diseases among Asian-Indian-females. Methods We conducted a prospective, open-label, consecutive all-comers study of 2,663 pregnant Asian Indian women admitted in the hospital, which included 92 with liver dysfunction. The medical aspects of the pregnancy were then followed prospectively with laboratory and clinical data during the hospital stay and analyzed. The current study was approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee. Results We found that 92 out of 2,663 patients had liver dysfunction with a prevalence of 3.45%. Fifty-four (58.7%) patients had icterus followed by fever in 23 (25.0%), hypertension in 22 (23.9%), central nervous system manifestations in 21 (22.8%), abdominal pain in 19 (20.6%), vomiting in 19 (20.6%), and pruritus in six (6.5%). Predictors of maternal mortality were icterus (p = 0.04), hepatomegaly (p = 0.04), presenting serum-bilirubin greater than 10 milligram% (mg%) (p = 0.008). The most common etiology was acute viral hepatitis (45.6%), followed by a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (29.3%), acute fatty liver of pregnancy (1.1%), cholestatic jaundice (9.8%), hyperemesis gravidarum (2.2%), septicemic hepatitis (3.3%), dengue immunoglobulin M (IgM), and plasmodium vivax malaria antigen positive in (2.2%) each. Four patients (4.3%) were leptospira IgM reactive and had co-infection with hepatitis E virus. There was one patient (1.1%) with underlying chronic liver disease. Idiopathic liver disease was present in 5.4% of patients. Conclusion Liver disease is relatively common in Indian pregnant women. It is associated with high maternal and perinatal mortality, even in a tertiary referral center. When managing pregnancy in a tertiary care center, for adequate follow-up of the disease and to prevent adverse consequences for mother and child, it is important to discard liver alterations early. For this purpose, liver disease during pregnancy needs early diagnosis for proper management. Furthermore, it is difficult to manage patients with preexisting liver disease, and it may require specialized intervention from a hepatologist and a gastroenterologist.