Abstract
Abnormalities of liver function are common during pregnancy. This retrospective study examined the incidence, aetiology and adequacy of investigation of pregnant women with markedly elevated aspartate aminotransferase and/or alanine transaminase levels (more than 10-fold of the upper limit of normal) over a ten-year period at a tertiary referral maternity hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Three hundred and twenty-three women were found to have markedly elevated liver enzymes, representing 0.56% of pregnancies with known delivery outcomes. Two hundred and sixty-four cases (82%) were due to pregnancy-specific causes. No cause was identified in 12 women (3.8%) despite investigation. No adverse maternal, fetal or neonatal outcome occurred in these pregnancies where no cause was identified for markedly elevated liver enzymes. A further six women (1.9%) did not have comprehensive investigation into underlying aetiologies of elevated liver enzymes.