Liver stiffness during pregnancy

Aims: Several life threatening but poorly understood hepatic complications are associated with pregnancy such as the HELLP syndrome, pregnancy-related cholestasis or eclampsia. Liver stiffness (LS) has evolved as a novel important diagnostic parameter that is affected by various pathologic conditions such as the degree of fibrosis, inflammation, but also intraabdominal and venous pressure. Since the intraabdominal pressure changes during pregnancy on a physiological basis, we here performed a pilot study on LS in pregnant women. Methods: LS was measured in 35 pregnant women in the second and third trimester who…