Is pregnancy safe with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction? An analysis

We aimed to analyse the pregnancy outcome of women with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction.

This was a retrospective observational analysis conducted at the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India, between January 2007 and September 2009. A total of 41 pregnancies in 24 women were evaluated.

All women conceived spontaneously (maternal age 20-35 years). 17 women had moderate-to-severe anaemia, and five women had pancytopenia. Variceal bleeding occurred in ten women during pregnancy, which was managed successfully with endoscopic sclerotherapy in eight women and endoscopic variceal ligation in two women. Preterm labour (14.63%), postpartum haemorrhage (7.31%), abortion (4.87%) and pregnancy-induced hypertension (4.87%) were observed in the 41 pregnancies. There were 39 live births and almost all mothers delivered vaginally, except for four who underwent Caesarean section for obstetric indications. Prematurity (15.38%), low birth weight (10.25%), admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (12.82%), stillbirth (2.56%) and neonatal death (2.56%) were noted in the newborns.

Variceal bleeding during pregnancy coincided with unfavourable outcomes. Although endoscopic obliteration of varices is a safe and effective method for antenatal management of varices in women, prenatal obliteration results in less morbidity. On rare occasions, obliterated varices can bleed in subsequent pregnancies. Therefore, preconception evaluation of the state of varices prior to each pregnancy and their ligation are important aspects of counselling. A successful foetomaternal outcome is achievable with multidisciplinary backup in a tertiary care centre.