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Treatment of Severe Hypertriglyceridemia During Pregnancy With High Doses of Omega-3 Fatty Acid and Plasmapheresis

N. Nguyên, Priti V Nath, V. Mai, Mohamed K. M. Shakir, T. Hoang

AACE Clinical Case Reports, 2021

21 citations

Abstract

Objective Severe hypertriglyceridemia carries increased health risks, including the development of pancreatitis. The objective of this study was to report on management of 2 cases with severe gestational hypertriglyceridemia. Cases In case 1, a 33-year-old pregnant woman presented with serum triglyceride level of 14 000 mg/dL after discontinuing hypolipidemic medications. She was treated with Lovaza 12 g/day, and serum triglyceride remained near normal at level of less than 800 mg mg/dL until delivery. In case 2, a 28-year-old patient (29th week gestation) presented with acute pancreatitis and triglycerides >4000 mg/dL. She was treated with Gemfibrozil, Lovaza, insulin infusion, subcutaneous heparin, and escalated to plasmapheresis. She successfully delivered a baby at the week of 36th and her triglyceride level was 304 mg/dL after that. Discussion Case 1 was treated with high-dose Lovaza and case 2 was treated with plasmapheresis successfully. Triglyceride levels were reduced to less than 500 mg/dL until delivery of healthy babies in both cases. Conclusion Omega-3 fatty acids and plasmapheresis may be effective and safe to treat pregnant women with severe hypertriglyceridemia and pancreatitis.

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