How Important Is Liver Damage During COVID-19?

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of liver dysfunction in patients hospitalized due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to investigate the role of liver dysfunction in predicting intensive care unit admission and mortality. Material and Methods: A total of 2168 patients who had no previously known chronic liver disease and were found to be COVID-19 positive on polymerase chain reaction test were divided into mild and severe COVID-19 groups. The effect of the development of liver damage on the course and prognosis of COVID-19 was investigated. Results: Elevated liver enzymes developed in 26.3% (n=461) of the patients with mild COVID-19 and in 45.3% (n=189) of the patients with severe COVID-19. The highest ALT and AST elevation was detected in patients using more than one drug with antibiotics (p<0.001). Severe hepatitis developed in 1.4% (n=25) of the patients with mild COVID-19 and 6.5% (n=27) of the patients with severe COVID-19 (p<0.001). There was a weak negative correlation between ALT and albumin (p=0.017, r=-0.497), while a weak positive correlation with bilirubin (p=0.024, r=0.352), a moderate positive correlation with ferritin (p=0.016, r=0.504), and a weak positive correlation with INR (p=0.022, r=0.383) were found in patients with severe COVID-19. Conclusion: The results showed that 30% of COVID-19 patients had impaired liver function of varying severity and that liver damage was more common in patients with severe COVID-19. It was also determined that liver damage occurring during COVID-19 was an indicator of intensive care requirement and the mortality risk.

Keywords

• covid-19
• liver
• prognosis
• covid-19
• karaciğer
• prognoz