Preeclampsia: a microvesicular fat disease of the liver?

To study the interrelationship between preeclampsia, the syndrome of hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count, and acute fatty liver of pregnancy, 41 liver specimens from 41 preeclamptic women with and without liver dysfunction were examined for the amount of fat deposited in hepatocytes. All 41 specimens stained with oil red O on frozen sections showed a significant amount of microvesicular fat droplets in varying degrees. In contrast, only 11 of the 41 stained conventionally (with hematoxylin-eosin) showed significant fatty infiltration. The density of hepatocellular fat correlated positively with plasma urate concentration and negatively with the platelet count. These findings suggest that preeclampsia may be one of several microvesicular fatty diseases of the liver and that acute fatty liver of pregnancy may be the most severe form.