A recent study has discovered that chronic liver disease or CLD does not seem to be a strong comorbid condition of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
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Experts retrospectively evaluated the data of 1,439
COVID-19 patients with average age of 55.2 years, where 50.2% were men, consecutively
hospitalized between March 16 and April 23, 2020. Characteristics and outcomes
were compared between those with and without CLD. Postmortem liver evaluations
in eight critically ill patients were also conducted.
There were 47 patients identified to have CLD, generating
an overall prevalence rate of 3.3%. CLD frequency did not statistically differ
among patients who had critical vs non-critical COVID-19.
Frequency of acute liver injury similarly did not differ
between CLD and non-CLD patients, nor did overall survival and time to
mechanical ventilation or intensive care admission.
The postmortem studies further unveiled that CLD was
not a significant comorbidity of COVID-19. The histological assessments revealed
that variable degrees of lymphocytic portal triaditis and of central vein
outflow obstruction and injury, as well as focal fibrin thrombi were the most
common findings. Chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis, steatosis, and chronic
hepatitis, was absent in all eight patients.
A multivariable cox regression identified age, hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, malignancy, and liver injury as significant correlates
of clinical findings in COVID-19 patients. Chronic liver disease failed to
achieve significance.
Source: Sci Rep 2021;11:11734