Prevalence and severity of viral hepatitis in Pakistani pregnant women: a five year hospital based study.

A hospital based observational study was carried out on pregnant women presenting with either acute hepatitis or fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), during the past years. Of 53 patients, 20 (38%) developed FHF.Non-A, Non-B was the commonest cause (62%) followed by hepatitis B in 17% and hepatitis A in 4% cases. Eight women expired (case fatality rate 15%) with a high maternal mortality (62%) caused by NANB hepatitis. Perinatal mortality was 30%. Poor prognostic factors identified were lack of antenatal care, severity of jaundice, history of somnolence, gastrointestinal bleeding and a high grade of encephalopathy.