Acute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy

Case Studies1 November 1965Acute Fatty Liver of PregnancyReport of a Surviving Patient Studied with Serial Liver BiopsiesR. J. DUMA, M.D., EDMUND A. DOWLING, M.D., H. C. ALEXANDER, M.D., DYRC SIBRANS, M.D., HUGH DEMPSEY, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C), F.A.C.P.R. J. DUMA, M.D., EDMUND A. DOWLING, M.D., H. C. ALEXANDER, M.D., DYRC SIBRANS, M.D., HUGH DEMPSEY, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C), F.A.C.P.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-63-5-851 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptFatty metamorphosis of the liver associated with acute liver failure, fatal to both mother and child, was first recognized in 1934 (1). Several years later Sheehan (2) described the clinical features of this unusual syndrome and distinguished its characteristic liver histology from that of infectious hepatitis and acute yellow atrophy in pregnancy. Clinically the disorder is manifested between the thirty-sixth and fortieth week of pregnancy by the sudden onset of epigastric pain and vomiting. In rapid progression the mother suffers intense jaundice, headache, precipitous labor, and delivery of a stillborn fetus, followed by hematemesis, deepening coma, and death, usually before...References1. STANDERCADDEN HJJF: Acute yellow atrophy of the liver in pregnancy. Amer. J. Obstet. Gynec. 28: 61, 1934. Google Scholar2. SHEEHAN HL: The pathology of acute yellow atrophy and delayed chloroform poisoning. J. Obstet. Gynaec. Brit. Emp. 47: 49, 1940. CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. CULLINAN ER: Idiopathic jaundice (often recurrent) associated with subacute necrosis of the liver. St. Barth. Hosp. Rep. 69: 55, 1936. Google Scholar4. WHITACREFANG FELY: Fatty degeneration of the liver in pregnancy. Report of a case with recovery: chemical and histologic studies. JAMA 118: 1358, 1942. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. 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Biol. Chem. 239: 2888, 1964. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar29. VAN METERSPECTOROLESONWILLIAMS JCAJJJH: In vitro action of Aureomycin on oxidative phosphorylation in animal tissues. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 81: 215, 1952. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar30. GEWINFRIOU HMGJ: Manifestations of vitamin deficiency during Aureomycin and chloramphenicol therapy of endocarditis due to Staphlococcus aureus. Report of a case. Yale J. Biol. Med. 23: 332, 1951. MedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Birmingham, AlabamaFrom the Departments of Medicine and Pathology, University of Alabama, and the University Hospital Medical Center, Birmingham, Ala.This study was supported in part by grants AM-08644 and HE-01725, U. S. Public Health Service, Bethesda, Md.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Hugh Dempsey, M.D., Department of Medicine, University of Alabama College of Medicine, Birmingham, Ala. 35233. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byAcute Fatty Liver of PregnancyAcute Fatty Liver of PregnancyCharacteristics of Ascites in Patients With Pregnancy-Specific Liver DiseasesAcute Fatty Liver of PregnancyACUTE FATTY LIVER OF PREGNANCYAcute Abdominal Pain in PregnancyTHE TETRACYCLINESAre changes in expression of actin genes involved in estrogen-induced cholestasis?Liver Disease of Pregnancy: Clinical AspectsLiver Disease of Pregnancy: PathologyAcute Fatty Liver of Pregnancy A Reassessment Based on Observations in Nine PatientsCAROLINE A. RIELY, M.D., PATRICIA S. LATHAM, M.D., ROBERTO ROMERO, M.D., THOMAS P. DUFFY, M.D.Liver disease in pregnancyAcute fatty liver of pregnancy: A clinicopathologic study of 35 casesHígado graso agudo del embarazo. 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