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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Pregnant With Itching On The Body. High LFT Levels. Worried About The Baby

Hi !!
I am 36 weeks and 3 days pregnant and since last Thursday night m having very severe itching all over my body . So yesterday I went to triage and they gave me some antihistamine tablets and took my blood sample now I got the call that my LFT is high.
I am really anxious about it ... Will these increased levels of LFT effect on my baby as well n if yes what it will be??
What is the line of treatment for it ???
Sat, 4 May 2013
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OBGYN,  's  Response
Hi,

Thanks for your query.
I fully understand your anxiety and we have a solution to this problem.

From the information you have given, it looks like the diagnosis is " Obstetric cholestasis", a condition peculiar to pregnancy.

Due to the pregnancy hormone effects on the liver , " bile" a susbtance normally cleared by the liver, does not get cleared and increases to high levels in blood.

This can also get deposited in the skin leading to itching.

Before we conclude, that this is the case we have to do blood tests for hepatitis and other autoimmune conditions that could affect the liver.

We monitor the well being of the baby by scan & heart beat recording called CTG. We also ask you to keep an account of baby's movements. There is no perfect test that will tell us whether baby will be affected by these abnormal values.

We offer induction of labour( ie starting the process of labour ) at 37 weeks or earlier if blood tests are abnormal. There is no advantage in continuing the pregnancy after 37 weeks as the effect of high LFTS can be bad for the baby.

There are medications that can be used to relieve itching but they do not cure the condition.
Usually the condition gets relieved after delivery.

We recommend LFT tests 2 & 6 weeks after delivery to confirm this.

This condition can recur in subsequent pregnanices (45-90%)
Please contact your doctor immediately to chart out a plan.
Best wishes.



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Pregnant With Itching On The Body. High LFT Levels. Worried About The Baby

Hi, Thanks for your query. I fully understand your anxiety and we have a solution to this problem. From the information you have given, it looks like the diagnosis is Obstetric cholestasis , a condition peculiar to pregnancy. Due to the pregnancy hormone effects on the liver , bile a susbtance normally cleared by the liver, does not get cleared and increases to high levels in blood. This can also get deposited in the skin leading to itching. Before we conclude, that this is the case we have to do blood tests for hepatitis and other autoimmune conditions that could affect the liver. We monitor the well being of the baby by scan & heart beat recording called CTG. We also ask you to keep an account of baby s movements. There is no perfect test that will tell us whether baby will be affected by these abnormal values. We offer induction of labour( ie starting the process of labour ) at 37 weeks or earlier if blood tests are abnormal. There is no advantage in continuing the pregnancy after 37 weeks as the effect of high LFTS can be bad for the baby. There are medications that can be used to relieve itching but they do not cure the condition. Usually the condition gets relieved after delivery. We recommend LFT tests 2 & 6 weeks after delivery to confirm this. This condition can recur in subsequent pregnanices (45-90%) Please contact your doctor immediately to chart out a plan. Best wishes.