[Acute fatty infiltration of the liver in pregnancy. One case (author's transl)]

Acute fatty infiltration of the liver in pregnancy is characterised by microvacuolar fatty infiltration, without necrosis, occuring at the end of pregnancy. This syndrome, defined by Sheehan in 1940, remains rare. The authors were able to find 62 authentic cases in the french, english and german literature. The course is fatal in 75% of cases for the mother and 70% for the child. The gravity is related to hepatocellular failure, but also to extra-hepatic complications (renal failure, haemorrhagic syndrome, infectious complications, acute haemorrhagic and/or necrosing pancreatitis). When the course is favourable, the hepatic lesions disappear in a few weeks and there is no recurrence during subsequent pregnancies. The histological lesions of acute fatty infiltration of the liver in pregnancy are identical to those of fatty infiltration of the liver induced by cyclines and of Reye syndrome.