Fatty Liver Disease Triples Risk of Preterm Delivery: Study Finds

New Delhi: Pregnant women with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have an increased risk of giving birth prematurely, and the risk increase cannot be explained by obesity, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal eClinicalMedicine.

Common risk factors for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease are metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity.

The disease has become increasingly common, including among women of reproductive age.

The study is based on Swedish registry data and includes a total of 240 births among women with MASLD and 1140 matched births of women from the general population.

Women with MASLD were more than three times more likely to give birth prematurely.

The risk did not increase with MASLD severity, and the increase in risk persisted even when compared to overweight or obese women without known MASLD.

Women with MASLD also had a 63 percent higher risk of cesarean section than the control group.

However, this seems to be explained by high BMI, as no increase in risk was seen compared to overweight or obese women without fatty liver disease.

"This suggests that the association is not only due to a high BMI and that the liver disease itself can have negative effects," explains lead author Carole A. Marxer, postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet.

"It is important that pregnant women with MASLD are closely monitored during pregnancy to reduce the risk of complications. Consideration should also be given to adding specific recommendations for pregnant women to the clinical guidelines for MASLD."

Reference: https://news.ki.se/fatty-liver-in-pregnancy-may-increase-risk-of-preterm-birth