Pediatric COVID-19 and the Liver

Abstract

This was a multicenter cohort (COVID-LIVERCHESS) of 70 patients from 9 designated hospitals in China, patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) infection and without pre-existing liverrelated comorbidities. COVID-19 was non-severe in 67(95.71%) and severe in 3 (4.29%) patients on admission. Thirty-two (45.71%) patients with COVID-19 were classified with liver injury on admission [elevated ALT in 15 (21.43%), 42.00-72.70 U/L; elevated AST in 5 (7.14%), 42.90-61.00 U/L; and elevated total bilirubin in 25 (35.71%), 18.00148.00 μmol/L). Of 32 patients with liver injury, the median age were 41 years (IQR 27.5-50.0 years) and 23 (71.88%) were male. Eight (25.00%) patients had comorbidities, including 6 (18.75%) hypertension, and 2 (6.25%) malignancy. Patients with liver injury had a longer time from onset to admission in contrast to those without liver injury (8 days vs 5 days, p=0.037). However, the length of ICU stay was comparable in those with or without liver injury.