Hepatic and gastrointestinal manifestations of SARS-COV-2 infection (COVID-19)

Background and aim: Abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms have been reported up to 50% in patients with COVID-19, and in 5% they can precede respiratory symptoms The objective of this work is to describe the LFTs and GI symptoms of patients with COVID-19 and their association with admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and mortality Material and Methods We conducted a retrospective, cross sectional, descriptive study, using files from patients with a positive Gen Finder COVID-19 test, admitted to Medica Sur Clinic and Foundation between March 13th through May 14th, 2020 We performed descriptive analysis of data and its association with clinical outcomes Results: A total of 108 patients with COVID-19 were identified;68 5% (n = 74) were men, the mean age was 53 ± 14 years and the body mass index was 28 6 ± 5 8 kg/m2 The most frequent comorbidity was hypertension with 24% (n = 26) The presence of comorbidities was associated with risk of ICU admission (OR 3 9 [95% CI 1 6-9 9], p = 0 002) The most frequent symptoms were cough (72 2%, n = 78), fever (69 4%, n = 75) and dyspnea (48 1%, n = 52) At least one abnormal LFT was present in 94% (n = 103) of patients at admission, the most frequent was LDH (88 9%, n = 96), AST and GGT (63%, n = 65), which are summarized in Table 1 Patients presented abnormal LFTs and respiratory symptoms in 48 1% (n = 52), while 16 6% (n = 18) presented abnormal LFTs without respiratory symptoms Among GI symptoms, 37% (n = 4) reported at least one, including diarrhea (28 7%, n = 31), hyporexia (9 3%, n = 10), nausea (8 3%, n = 9) or vomiting (4 6%, n = 5) Of patients admitted to the ICU (n = 39), 27 5% (n = 10) presented at least one GI symptom Mortality was 7 4% (n = 8) No associations were found between abnormal LFTs, GI symptoms, and outcomes of mortality and ICU admission Conclusions: In patients with COVID 19, the presence of metabolic comorbidities confers a higher risk of ICU admission, in contrast to abnormal LFTs and GI symptoms that were not associated with clinical outcomes Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare