Liver complications common with COVID-19

Pre-existing liver disease and acute hepatic injury during the infection are associated with more risk of severe or fatal disease, authors say
Reuters Health
Coronavirus particle

Liver complications are common and are associated with more severe disease in patients with COVID-19, a review shows.

European researchers evaluated the hepatic manifestations and complications of COVID-19 in their systematic review of 19 retrospective cohort studies (14 from China and five from the USA), including more than 15,000 patients with the infection..

Pre-existing chronic liver disease appeared to be present in only 2% of patients, including cirrhosis (0.4%), hepatitis B (0.9%), and hepatitis C (0.3%), the researchers reported in their letter to the Journal of Infection.

On admission, 27% of patients had elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT), 37% had elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 46% had low albumin and 18% had elevated total bilirubin.