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. 2022 Mar 12;57(2):185-189.
doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agab047.

Inter-Hospital Escalation-of-Care Referrals for Severe Alcohol-Related Liver Disease with Recent Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Po-Hung Chen  1 , Peng-Sheng Ting  1 , Erik Almazan  2 , Geetanjali Chander  3 , Andrew M Cameron  4 , Ahmet Gurakar  1
Affiliations

Inter-Hospital Escalation-of-Care Referrals for Severe Alcohol-Related Liver Disease with Recent Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Po-Hung Chen et al. Alcohol Alcohol. .

Abstract

Alcohol sales and consumption have increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but their downstream effects on alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) are unclear. We analyzed inter-hospital escalation-of-care referrals to our tertiary care inpatient liver unit across 18 months through December 2020. There was a significant rise in severe ALD with recent unhealthy drinking in our regional community during the pandemic.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The number (A) and proportion (B) of inter-hospital escalation-of-care referrals to the Johns Hopkins Hospital liver unit from the third quarter of 2019 through the fourth quarter of 2020, stratified by liver disease diagnosis. *Recent drinking (RD) is defined as alcohol use within the previous 6 months. * *ALD with no reported alcohol use during the preceding 6 months. ***Liver disease etiology not yet diagnosed at the time of referral.
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