Abnormal liver function tests in pregnant patients with COVID-19 - a retrospective cohort study in a tertiary center

Abstract

Objectives: The current study aimed to describe the incidence of abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in pregnant COVID-19 patients, explore the association between LFTs with current medication, and provide a reference for medical therapy of pregnant patients with COVID-19.

Material and methods: This retrospective single tertiary center cohort study included 122 pregnant patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted and treated from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. We defined abnormal LFTs as the elevation of the following liver enzymes in serum per our hospital's laboratory reference range standards: AST > 35 U/L, ALT > 35 U/L, and TBIL > 1.2 mg/dL. We evaluated patients for demographic and clinical features, laboratory parameters, medications, and hospital length of stay (LOS).

Results: Patients in this cohort had clinical presentations of fever (84.4%), dry cough (78.6%), and shortness of breathing (6.5%). In total, 17 (13.9%) patients had abnormal LFTs during hospitalization. Critically ill patients were three-fold higher in the abnormal LFTs group (11.8%) than in the normal LFTs group (3.8%, p = 0.16). The proportion of patients who used hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir were significantly higher in patients with abnormal LFTs (88.2% and 35.3%, respectively) than those with normal LFTs (62.9% and 15.2%, p = 0.04 and p = 0.04, respectively). The hospital length of stay (LOS) was significantly longer in the abnormal LFTs group (8.2 ± 5.8 days) than in the normal LFT group (6.0 ± 2.8 days, p = 0.02).

Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 may induce liver injury and the LFT abnormality was generally mild in pregnant patients with COVID-19. Abnormal LFTs are associated with prolonged hospital LOS. Drug use was the most crucial risk factor for liver injury during hospitalization. The use of lopinavir/ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine were significantly higher, and the course of treatment of these drugs was significantly longer in pregnant women with abnormal LFTs than the patients with normal LFTs. Therefore, pregnant women with COVID-19 who received antiviral treatment should be closely monitored for evaluating LFTs.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; liver function test; pregnancy.