Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis are Associated with Worse Outcomes Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Studies evaluating the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on chronic liver disease (CLD) are limited and have focused mostly on hospitalized patients or those with cirrhosis. We aim to evaluate the impact of underlying CLD on patient outcomes following COVID-19 using a one of the largest COVID-19+CLD cohorts to date.

METHODS: Data from the COVID-19 Research Database (https://covid19researchdatabase.org) were evaluated from 4/1/2020-8/31/2021 to determine whether concurrent CLD was associated with worse outcomes within 30-days of COVID-19 diagnosis, including need for hospitalization, pneumonia, severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, and multi-organ failure. Among patients with COVID-19+CLD, risks of liver decompensation and acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) were evaluated, stratified by presence of cirrhosis. Adjusted multivariate logistic regression models evaluated the impact of CLD on COVID-19 outcomes.

RESULTS: 1,208,905 unique patients with COVID-19 were identified; 44,008 (3.6%) had concurrent CLD, among which 6,515 (14.8%) had cirrhosis. Compared to patients without CLD, COVID-19+CLD patients were significantly more likely to require hospitalization (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.61-1.69), develop pneumonia (aOR 1.11, 95% CI 1.08-1.14), severe pneumonia (aOR 1.74, 95% CI 1.62-1.86), respiratory failure (aOR 1.14, 95% CI 1.10-1.17), and multi-organ failure (aOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.72-1.97), p<0.0001 for all. Among COVID-19+CLD patients, underlying cirrhosis was associated with even higher risk of these poor outcomes, and higher risk of acute liver decompensation or ACLF.

CONCLUSIONS: Among one of the largest studies to date evaluating patients with COVID-19 and CLD, underlying CLD is associated with significantly greater risk of poor outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly among cirrhotic patients.