A syndrome of liver damage and intravascular coagulation in the last trimester of normotensive pregnancy. A clinical and histopathological study.

Six women without hypertension or proteinuria, admitted for severe upper abdominal pain in the third trimester of pregnancy had elevated serum liver enzymes (SGOT, SGPT), markedly increased serum LDH levels, thrombocytopenia and abnormal blood coagulation tests, in particular low antithrombin III levels, indicating disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Liver biopsies showed periportal and/or focal parenchymal lesions with large fibrin deposits, comparable to the liver lesions in eclampsia. Immunofluorescence (IF) showed microthrombi and large fibrin deposits. Three of the six women recovered spontaneously before delivery; in the remaining three all signs and symptoms rapidly disappeared after delivery. Perinatal outcome was poor. Seven women with pregnancy-induced hypertension and elevated serum liver enzymes constituted a reference series. Histopathological examination of liver biopsies in the reference group revealed periportal and/or focal parenchymal lesions in three whereas IF showed fibrin deposition in all seven, but less extensive than in the study group. The present findings indicate that upper abdominal pain in the last trimester of pregnancy can be caused by a syndrome of (pre)-eclamptic liver damage and DIC, even when hypertension and proteinuria are lacking.