title: Prevalence and severity of viral hepatitis in Pakistani pregnant women: a five year hospital based study.
abstract: A hospital based observational study was carried out on pregnant women presenting with either acute hepatitis or fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), during the past years. Of 53 patients, 20 (38%) developed FHF.Non-A, Non-B was the commonest cause (62%) followed by hepatitis B in 17% and hepatitis A in 4% cases. Eight women expired (case fatality rate 15%) with a high maternal mortality (62%) caused by NANB hepatitis. Perinatal mortality was 30%. Poor prognostic factors identified were lack of antenatal care, severity of jaundice, history of somnolence, gastrointestinal bleeding and a high grade of encephalopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Karim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence