Successful pregnancy in a liver transplant recipient treated with lamivudine for de novo hepatitis B in the graft

Abstract

Pregnancy is often successful after liver transplantation, despite the potentially toxic effects of immunosuppressive drug therapy. Liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C or hepatitis B nonetheless appear to be at risk of a worse graft function in the event of pregnancy, and antiviral drugs are generally contraindicated in pregnancy because of their teratogenic effects. A 33-year-old woman had undergone liver transplantation for Caroli's disease 6 years previously. Two years later the patient experienced de novo HBV hepatitis. Lamivudine treatment (1 00 mg/day) was started and clearance of HBsAg was documented 1 year later. Four years after starting antiviral treatmeht the patient became pregnant, despite of the risk of teratogenic