Premium
Jaundice During Pregnancy in Ibadan, Nigeria
Author(s) -
Ogunbode O.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1002/j.1879-3479.1979.tb00447.x
Subject(s) - medicine , jaundice , pregnancy , incidence (geometry) , hepatitis , fulminant hepatitis , obstetrics , fulminant , complication , viral hepatitis , disease , abortion , pediatrics , surgery , optics , biology , genetics , physics
The clinical features of hepatitis during pregnancy and the effect of this complication on the mother and the fetus were evaluated in 45 patients with jaundice who were treated at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, from July 1976 to January 1978. Viral hepatitis was the cause of jaundice in 23 of the 45 patients in this prospective study. Three of these patients had the fulminant type of jaundice which resulted in maternal deaths. The peak incidence of the disease occurred in the last trimester. Hepatitis had a deleterious effect on the outcome of pregnancy; the effect was directly related to the severity of the disease, especially when associated with pyrexia. It is postulated that, by lowering resistance to infection, malnutrition may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of hepatitis during pregnancy.