RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 COVID-19 associated variations in liver function parameters: a retrospective study
JF Postgraduate Medical Journal
JO Postgrad Med J
FD The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
SP postgradmedj-2020-138930
DO 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138930
A1 Saini, Ram Krishan
A1 Saini, Neha
A1 Ram, Sant
A1 Soni, Shiv Lal
A1 Suri, Vikas
A1 Malhotra, Pankaj
A1 Kaur, Jyotdeep
A1 Verma, Indu
A1 Sharma, Sadhna
A1 Zohmangaihi, Deepy
YR 2020
UL http://pmj.bmj.com/content/early/2020/11/12/postgradmedj-2020-138930.abstract
AB Background Characteristics of laboratory findings of COVID-19 patients are of great significance for diagnosis and treatment. Studies that have analysed the variations in hepatic profile in correlation with the inflammatory markers in SARS-CoV-2 are limited.Methods We retrospectively analysed liver function tests and inflammatory markers of 170 admitted patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the tertiary care centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), India, using Roche Cobas Autoanalyzer.Results Number of patients with normal liver enzyme levels were 63 (41.5%), while with raised levels of any of the liver enzymes were 89 (58.5%), out of which 43 (48.31%) had liver injury which manifested as increased severity in terms of intensive care unit (ICU) requirement (p=0.0005). Significantly raised levels of liver enzymes and liver injury were observed with age (p<0.0001) and in males (p=0.004). Significantly decreased levels of albumin and total proteins and increased levels of total bilirubin (p<0.0001) were seen in patients with abnormal liver enzyme levels and liver injury as compared to patients with normal levels. Significant increase in the levels of alanine transaminase and gamma-glutamyl transferase was seen on the 7th day, CRP and ferritin (p<0.0001) peaks were observed on 2nd and 3rd day respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between the levels of these inflammatory markers and liver function parameters.Conclusions More than half of patients admitted to the hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection had an abnormal liver function which was found to be associated with raised levels of inflammatory markers. Significantly higher proportions of patients with abnormal liver function were elderly and males and were at higher risk of progressing to severe disease.