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. 2020 Aug;40(8):1860-1864.
doi: 10.1111/liv.14557. Epub 2020 Jun 21.

Abnormal liver tests in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019: Should we worry?

Magdalena Meszaros  1   2 , Lucy Meunier  1 , David Morquin  3 , Kada Klouche  4 , Pierre Fesler  5 , Emilie Malezieux  1 , Alain Makinson  3 , Vincent Le Moing  3 , Jacques Reynes  3 , Georges-Philippe Pageaux  1
Affiliations

Abnormal liver tests in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019: Should we worry?

Magdalena Meszaros et al. Liver Int. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

While several studies from China have reported COVID-19-related liver injury, there are currently no data on liver dysfunction in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Europe. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and predictive value of abnormal liver function in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. This was a retrospective cohort study of confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized in two referral hospitals in France. Clinical, biological and radiological data were collected and analysed. In all, 234 patients confirmed to have COVID-19 by RT-PCR were included. Liver function was abnormal in 66.6% of patients on admission. In multivariate logistic regression, abnormal liver test on admission were associated with in-hospital aggravation (OR = 4.1, 95% CI 1.5-10.8; P = .004) and mortality (OR 3.3; 95% CI = 1.04-10.5; P = .04). This study of liver tests in a European COVID-19 population confirms a high prevalence of abnormal liver tests on admission that are predictive of severe disease course and higher in-hospital mortality.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019; SARS-CoV-2; abnormal liver tests; in-hospital aggravation; in-hospital mortality; prognosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest that pertain to this work.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Kaplan‐Meier survival curves comparing COVID‐2 patients with normal and abnormal liver function tests on admission
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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