Page 31 - Care-for-vulnerable-populations-during-COVID-19-pandemic

Pre-existing chronic liver disease and COVID-19 -

does it matter?

What about those patients with pre-existing chronic liver disease and what happens to them when
they developed COVID-19. Initial series here showed that there is a very small number of
patients with liver disease, but this series has a lot of missing data in terms of what other
underlying conditions. Subsequent study from the UK using electronic health record data from
over 17 million patients, they found that chronic liver disease is a risk factor for inpatient death
from COVID-19. There is another series from America, that is associated with significantly
higher mortality. Mortality is even higher in patients with cirrhosis. The etiologies of these
chronic liver diseases including cirrhosis, fatty liver disease and Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis
(NASH) are the most common. The mortality risk was independent of the well known risk
factors like BMI, hypertension and DM.