Prospective Observational Study

Fatty liver in pregnancy-protocol:

Non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the main causes of development of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. The incidence of NAFLD among the general population is about 17-30%. There are no published studies which have investigated the incidence of NAFLD in pregnant women or the correlation between the metabolic changes in pregnancy and this phenomenon.

We aimed in our study to explore the incidence of NAFLD in pregnancy by ultrasonography (US) during the end of the pregnancy or immediately after birth (after 36 weeks) and to look for a correlation between fatty liver and demographic, clinical, nutritional and laboratory data during pregnancy.

Methods: US examination will be performed by an experienced technician. The liver will be scanned by B mode US using a 2-5 MHZ transducer. In those with fatty liver as seen by US, a repeat examination will be performed after 6 weeks and 24 weeks. For women with the diagnosis of fatty liver, serum lipid profile, glucose, liver function tests and insulin will be done. Homa score as well as BMI will be calculated for each woman with fatty liver. All participants will sign an informed consent which has been approved by the hospital ethical committee.