Lipid Disorders in Pregnancy

Title:Lipid Disorders in Pregnancy

Volume: 27 Issue: 36

Author(s): Anastasios Liberis*, Stamatis Petousis and Panagiotis Tsikouras

Affiliation:

• Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Aristotle University School of Medicine, Hippokration Hospital, Thessaloniki 54250,Greece

Keywords: Dyslipidemia, pregnancy, statins, fibrates, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, familial hypercholesterolemia.

Abstract: Dyslipidemia represents a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In addition, severe hypertriglyceridemia is an important cause of acute pancreatitis. Accordingly, the increase in serum lipid levels that is observed during pregnancy has potentially important implications. The management of dyslipidemia in pregnancy is further complicated by the lack of safety data during this period for most of the lipid-lowering agents. In the present review, we discuss the most important lipid disorders in pregnant women and their management. Pregnancy is characterized by increases in both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride levels, which might result in severe complications both for the mother and the fetus. Accordingly, LDL-C and triglyceride levels should be monitored during pregnancy, particularly in women with a history of dyslipidemia. Diet is the mainstay of management of dyslipidemia in pregnant women and apheresis can also be considered in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or severe hypertriglyceridemia. However, there is a pressing need for studies that evaluate the safety of lipid-lowering agents during pregnancy.

Cite this article as:

Liberis Anastasios *, Petousis Stamatis and Tsikouras Panagiotis , Lipid Disorders in Pregnancy, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2021; 27 (36) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1381612827666210421103245