Abstract

Women with hypertriglyceridemia are prone to gestational pancreatitis, a condition carrying substantial maternal and fetal risk. We describe a 33-year-old woman with familial hypertriglyceridemia who had recurrent hyperlipidemic abdominal crises during previous pregnancies despite dietary fat restrictions. A fifth pregnancy was carried to term without complications after aggressive dietary therapy and intermittent intravenous feeding, administered whenever her triglyceride levels exceeded an arbitrarily selected threshold concentration of 28 mmol/L. The efficacy of this approach may be explained by the published observation that low-fat (high-carbohydrate) isocaloric diets elevate serum triglyceride levels by the oral, but not the intravenous, route in normal individuals. Reduction of this patient's serum triglyceride concentrations by interrupting oral intake and administering intravenous glucose appeared to prevent late-pregnancy pancreatitis and culminated in uncomplicated full-term delivery.