Abstract
Fifty-nine consecutive pregnant women complaining of pruritus without obvious dermatological cause were studied. In 57 women the presence in serum of an abnormal lipoprotein, LP-X, characteristic conditions associated with cholestasis, was verified by an immunological technique. These 57 women were designated as having cholestasis of pregnancy. Clinical symptoms were related to liver function tests: serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, SGOT and SGPT. Compared with women with uncomplicated pregnancy, these patients showed a high frequency (p<0.05) and long duration (p<0.001) of emesis, food- and drug idiosyncrasy (p<0.001) and gall bladder disease (p<0.05).
Based on liver function tests two groups of patients with different degrees of severity of cholestasis of pregnancy were differentiated. Thirteen cases, characterized by serum bilirubin >1.2 mg/100 ml and/or SGOT and SGPT >50 units/1, were called hepatosis of pregnancy (HP), while 37 cases with pruritus gravidarum (PG) represented a milder degree of cholestasis.