Reference standard for serum bile acids in pregnancy

Please cite this paper as: Egan N, Bartels Ä, Khashan A, Broadhurst D, Joyce C, O’Mullane J, O’Donoghue K. Reference standard for serum bile acids in pregnancy. BJOG 2012;119:493–498. Objective Obstetric cholestasis (OC) is a liver disorder characterised by pruritus and elevated serum bile acids (SBA) that affects one in 200 pregnant women. It is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes such as premature delivery and stillbirth. Mild OC is defined as SBA levels of 10–39 μmol/l, and severe OC is defined by levels >40 μmol/l. SBA levels in normal pregnancy have not been investigated. We aimed to establish reference values for SBA in healthy pregnant women across different trimesters of pregnancy. Design Cross‐sectional analysis of SBA levels. Setting A large tertiary referral university teaching maternity hospital. Population Healthy pregnant women with a singleton pregnancy and a body mass index (BMI)