Successful pregnancy in a woman with liver cirrhosis complicated by recurrent variceal bleeding

Liver and Biliary Disease of Pregnancy and Anesthetic Implications: A Review

Liver and biliary disease complicates pregnancy in varying degrees of severity to the mother and fetus, and anesthesiologists may be asked to assist in caring for these patients before, during, and after birth of the fetus. Therefore, it is important to be familiar with how different liver diseases impact the pregnancy state. In addition, knowing symptoms, signs, and laboratory markers in the context of a pregnant patient will lead to faster diagnosis and treatment of such patients. This review article discusses changes in physiology of parturients, patients with liver disease, and parturients with liver disease. Next, general treatment of parturients with acute and chronic liver dysfunction is presented. The article progresses to specific liver diseases with treatments as they relate to pregnancy. And finally, important aspects to consider when anesthetizing parturients with liver disease are discussed.

ACG Clinical Guideline: Liver Disease and Pregnancy

Consultation for liver disease in pregnant women is a common and oftentimes vexing clinical consultation for the gastroenterologist. The challenge lies in the need to consider the safety of both the expectant mother and the unborn fetus in the clinical management decisions. This practice guideline provides an evidence-based approach to common diagnostic and treatment challenges of liver disease in pregnant women.

Gastrointestinal and liver disease in pregnancy

This chapter on the gastrointestinal and hepatic systems in pregnancy focusses on those conditions that are frequent and troublesome (gastro-oesophageal reflux and constipation), distressing (hyperemesis gravidarum) or potentially fatal (obstetric cholestasis, acute fatty liver of pregnancy and HELLP (haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets) syndrome). It also highlights the clinical challenge obstetricians may face in managing rare conditions such as the Budd-Chiari syndrome, liver transplantation, primary biliary cirrhosis and Wilson disease. The clinical presentation of liver and gastrointestinal dysfunction in pregnancy is not specific, and certain 'abnormalities' may represent physiological changes of pregnancy. Diagnosis and management are often difficult because of atypical symptoms, a reluctance to use invasive investigations and concerns about the teratogenicity of the medications. The best available evidence to manage these conditions is discussed in the chapter.