The existence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (also called NASH or fatty liver disease) in pregnant women significantly increases the risk of serious pregnancy-related complications.
- When the accumulation of fat in the liver occurs apart from any high alcohol consumption, it is called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH).
- Non-alcoholic steatosis concerns 7.83 million French people, among whom 200,000 people are at high risk of developing irreversible complications of their liver.
“The impact of NASH on mother and child is a growing topic.” During the Paris NASH Meeting 2021Professor Lawrence Serfaty presented a new study* which demonstrates for the first time that the existence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in pregnant women significantly increases the risk of serious pregnancy-related complications.
Eclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage, premature births
“This triples the risk of eclampsia,” for example, said Lawrence Serfaty, professor of hepatology and head of the liver disease department at the Strasbourg University Hospital. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease also promotes postpartum hemorrhage, premature births and the risk of maternal death, regardless of the prior existence of obesity, diabetes or hypertension.
These results imply the management of non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis in women who wish to become pregnant, and the establishment of close monitoring in this population at high obstetric risk.“Proposing taking aspirin in the third trimester to limit eclampsia is also possible”, Judge Professor Lawrence Serfaty. According to her estimates, 5 to 10% of pregnancies take place in the presence of NASH in France, even if no official figures are yet available on this subject.
Leading cause of chronic liver disease
In the United States, the obesity epidemic affects approximately one-third of women of childbearing age. In this context, it was shown from a study of more than 18 million American pregnancies that the number of pregnancies with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease had almost tripled between 2007 and 2015.
NASH is a liver disease associated with obesity, overweight, insulin resistance and diabetes. It has now become the leading cause of chronic liver disease in the world. Apart from hygiene and dietary measures, no treatment can currently overcome it.
*Published in the Journal of hepatology. Authors: Monika Sarkar, Joshua Grab, Jennifer L. Dodge, Roxanna A. Irani, Marcelle Cedars, Norah Terrault.
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