Diagnosis
The diagnosis of acute fatty liver of pregnancy is usually made on clinical grounds by the treating physician, but differentiation from other conditions affecting the liver may be difficult. The diagnosis of acute fatty liver of pregnancy is suggested by jaundice with a lesser elevation of liver enzymes, elevated white blood cell count, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and a clinically unwell patient.
A liver biopsy can provide a definitive diagnosis, but is not always done, due to the increased chance of bleeding in acute fatty liver of pregnancy. Often testing will be done to exclude more common conditions that present in a similar fashion, including viral hepatitis, pre-eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, and autoimmune hepatitis.
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