LIVER INJURY IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN COVID-19 PATIENTS

Authors

Mohammad A. Siddiqui, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Suraj Suresh, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Mouhanna Abu Ghanimeh, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Megan Karrick, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Faisal M. Nimri, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Maher Musleh, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Vivek Mendiratta, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Mustafa Al-Shammari, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Stephen Simmer, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Jessica Jou, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Sarah Russell, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Duyen Y. Dang, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Reena J. Salgia, Henry Ford HealthFollow
Tobias Zuchelli, Henry Ford HealthFollow

Recommended Citation

Siddiqui MB, Suresh S, Abu Ghanimeh M, Karrick M, Nimri F, Musleh M, Mendiratta V, Al-Shammari M, Simmer S, Jou J, Russell SM, Dang DY, Salgia RJ, and Zuchelli T. LIVER INJURY IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY IN COVID-19 PATIENTS. Hepatology 2020; 72:287A-287A.

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

11-2020

Publication Title

Hepatology

Abstract

Background: Based on current literature there appears to be a high prevalence of liver injury (LI) in patients with COVID-19. However, there are limited large scale studies on risk factors, morbidity, and mortality associated with LI in these patients. We aim to determine risk factors and outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and LI. Methods: We performed a retrospective single-center study at a large tertiary care hospital. All index admissions of adult patients with confirmed COVID19 between 3/1 to 4/30/2020 were included. Data on baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes was collected during manual chart review. Mild elevation in LFTs (MEL), defined as peak levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (TB) above upper limit of normal (ULN) but lower than the threshold for LI. LI was defined as peak ALT/AST three times ULN and/or peak ALP/TB two times ULN. ULN threshold values of ALT 52, AST 35, TB 1.2, ALP 140 were used. Both cohorts were compared with our control group, who had normal LFTs at presentation and throughout the hospitalization. SAS 9.4 was used for analysis. Results: A total of 1935 patients were included of which 507 (26.2%) had normal LFTs, 1030 (53.2%) had MEL, and 397 (20.5%) had LI. Males were more commonly found in the MEL (p=0.0004) and LI groups compared to control (p<.0001). Patients in the MEL cohort were older (p=0.0005). African Americans were more likely to develop LI (p=0.0318). There was no difference in comorbidities between all groups. Among patients with LI, 241 (61%) had a hepatocellular pattern, 20 (5%) had a cholestatic pattern, and 135 (34%) had a mixed pattern. Patients with LI had an increased risk of mortality (RR 4.26 [95% CI 3.12, 5.81; p<.0001]), ICU admission (RR 5.52 [95% CI 4.07, 7.49; p<.0001]), intubation (RR 11.01 [95% CI 6.97, 17.34]); p<.0001) and 30-day readmission (1.81 [95% CI 1.17, 2.80; p<.0076]) (Table 2, Figure 1) compared to the control group. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that patients with COVID-19 who present with LI have a significantly increased risk of mortality, mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and 30-day re-admission compared to patients with MEL and normal LFTs. This information is important to appropriately manage COVID-19 patients. Further research looking at risk prediction models and pooling multi-center data should include liver injury as a key variable.

Volume

2020

Issue

72

First Page

287

Last Page

287