tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
United European Gastroenterol J
. 2020 Jun 26;2050640620931657.
doi: 10.1177/2050640620931657. Online ahead of print.
Patterns of Liver Injury in COVID-19 - A German Case Series
J?rn M Schattenberg[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Christian Labenz[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Marcus-Alexander W?rns[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Menge[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arndt Weinmann[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Peter R Galle[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin F Sprinzl[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Reports of liver injury in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are emerging from China and the USA. A wide variety of liver function test abnormalities and few cases of severe liver failure have been reported. No data on the hepatic phenotype from Europe are available at current.
Methods: We report a case series of 44 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Germany.
Results: At the time of admission, aspartate aminotransferase greater than the upper limit of normal was present in 70%, while alanine aminotransferase was elevated in 15.8%. Markers of cholestatic liver injury were altered only in a minority of patients. During hospitalization, 31% and 22% experienced increasing aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, respectively, when transaminases were normal at admission. Severe liver injury defined by 3?> upper limit of normal was observed in 9.1% over a mean time of 10.5 days. Importantly, patients exhibited cytotoxicity including lactate dehydrogenase and creatinine kinase elevations, but no signs of relevant liver function impairment.
Conclusion: In summary, in a case series of hospitalized patients in Germany, cytotoxicity in the absence of severe liver dysfunction at admission and only few cases suggestive of severe liver injury during hospital were observed.
Keywords: COVID-19; Liver; cohort study; hepatology; inflammation.
. 2020 Jun 26;2050640620931657.
doi: 10.1177/2050640620931657. Online ahead of print.
Patterns of Liver Injury in COVID-19 - A German Case Series
J?rn M Schattenberg[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Christian Labenz[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Marcus-Alexander W?rns[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Philipp Menge[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arndt Weinmann[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Peter R Galle[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Martin F Sprinzl[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32588791
- DOI: 10.1177/2050640620931657
Abstract
Background: Reports of liver injury in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are emerging from China and the USA. A wide variety of liver function test abnormalities and few cases of severe liver failure have been reported. No data on the hepatic phenotype from Europe are available at current.
Methods: We report a case series of 44 consecutive patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Germany.
Results: At the time of admission, aspartate aminotransferase greater than the upper limit of normal was present in 70%, while alanine aminotransferase was elevated in 15.8%. Markers of cholestatic liver injury were altered only in a minority of patients. During hospitalization, 31% and 22% experienced increasing aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, respectively, when transaminases were normal at admission. Severe liver injury defined by 3?> upper limit of normal was observed in 9.1% over a mean time of 10.5 days. Importantly, patients exhibited cytotoxicity including lactate dehydrogenase and creatinine kinase elevations, but no signs of relevant liver function impairment.
Conclusion: In summary, in a case series of hospitalized patients in Germany, cytotoxicity in the absence of severe liver dysfunction at admission and only few cases suggestive of severe liver injury during hospital were observed.
Keywords: COVID-19; Liver; cohort study; hepatology; inflammation.