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Prevalence of Abnormal Liver Function Tests, Pattern of Liver Injury and its Outcome in Covid-19 Patients-a Study from Tertiary Hospital

Masood Muhammad Karim

Background: COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Evidence suggests that it can cause liver damage through various mechanisms, but little is known about the prevalence and clinical significance of abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) in patients with COVID-19.

Methods and material: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi from 26^th February 2020 till June 2020. All the patients above 18 years of age, admitted with confirmed COVID-19 infection were included. Data on patient demographics, clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, length of hospital stay, and clinical outcomes were collected. Statistical analysis of the variables was conducted using SPSS.

Result: A total of 533 hospitalized patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 53+/-16 years, of which 61.5% were male. The most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (42%) and diabetes mellitus (36%). LFTs were found to be deranged in 92% of the total patients, with SGOT (81%), GGT (69.4%), and SGPT (66.8%) being the most commonly affected liver enzyme. On comparative analysis, deranged LFTs showed significant correlations with the male gender (p-value 0.012), age group >60 years (p-value 0.001), fever (p-value<0.001), cough (p-value 0.028), shortness of breath (p-value 0.021), hemoglobin levels (p-value 0.003), serum sodium (p-value 0.006), serum CRP (p-value<0.001), serum ferritin (p-value<0.001), serum LDH (p-value<0.001), and length of hospital stay (p-value< 0.001).

Conclusion: The study showed a high prevalence of abnormal liver enzymes in COVID-19 patients, with more cases mild to moderate. Our findings suggest a correlation between abnormal LFTs and various demographic and clinical factors, but further investigation is needed to determine the clinical significance of liver injury in COVID-19 patients. These findings have important implications for patient management and outcomes.