Abstract / Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from mild respiratory symptoms to severe systemic complications. Patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) are considered particularly vulnerable because of immune dysregulation, chronic inflammation, and impaired metabolic function. The present study aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes, laboratory findings, and mortality risk among hospitalized COVID-19 patients with underlying chronic liver disease compared with patients without liver disease. This retrospective cohort study was conducted on 114 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 at Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol, Iran, between March 2020 and March 2023. The study included 37 patients with pre-existing chronic liver disease and a selected comparison group of 77 patients without chronic liver disease or documented chronic comorbidities. Demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, laboratory parameters, treatment outcomes, duration of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mortality were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26. The mean age of patients in the liver disease group was 57.03 ± 13.85 years, while it was 55.05 ± 14.42 years in the non-CLD comparison group, with no statistically significant difference. Cirrhosis was the most common liver disorder among affected patients (45.9%). Patients with chronic liver disease showed significantly higher serum levels of AST, ALT, bilirubin, prothrombin time, and blood urea nitrogen compared with non-CLD comparison group ( P < 0.05). Abdominal pain and confusion were more frequently observed in the liver disease. Chronic liver disease was associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality compared with the selected non-CLD comparison group.No statistically significant difference in hospital length of stay was observed between patients with and without CLD ( P = 0.972). Chronic liver disease was associated with higher in-hospital mortality and other adverse clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Because subgroup analyses according to cirrhosis status were not performed, no conclusions can be drawn regarding the specific association between cirrhosis and clinical outcomes in this cohort.