Hospital course and outcomes
| COVID-19 alone (n=108) | COVID-19+cirrhosis (n=37) | Cirrhosis alone (n=127) | P value for all groups* | |
| Infections | ||||
| Infection as reason for admission† | 108 (100%) | 33 (89%) | 29 (23%) | <0.0001 |
| Further infections | 15 (14%) | 5 (14%) | 32 (25%) | 0.05 |
| Hospital course | ||||
| Large-volume paracentesis | – | 3 (11%) | 26 (20%) | <0.0001 |
| Central line placement† | 24 (22%) | 10 (27%) | 14 (11%) | 0.07 |
| BiPAP†‡ | 11 (10%) | 10 (27%) | 3 (2%) | <0.0001 |
| Upper endoscopy | 0 (0%) | 3 (11%) | 21 (17%) | <0.0001 |
| GI bleeding‡ | 1 (1%) | 5 (14%) | 27 (21%) | <0.0001 |
| Variceal banding | – | 1 (3%) | 11 (9%) | 0.001 |
| Highest lactate‡ | 1.8±0.91 | 3.9±4.6 | 3.3±2.3 | 0.001 |
| Lowest sodium‡ | 134.0±5.3 | 132.9±5.1 | 132.6±6.5 | 0.31 |
| Lowest albumin‡ | 2.9±0.5 | 2.5.0±0.6 | 2.6±0.66 | 0.001 |
| Highest creatinine‡ | 1.9±2.4 | 2.53±2.1 | 2.3±2.4 | 0.38 |
| Highest MELD | – | 17.6±8.6 | 22.8±10.1 | 0.004 |
| Organ failures | ||||
| Mechanical ventilation† | 41 (39%) | 14 (38%) | 18 (14%) | <0.0001 |
| Renal replacement‡ | 7 (7%) | 7 (19%) | 15 (12%) | 0.12 |
| HE grade III/IV | – | 5 (14%) | 32 (25%) | <0.0001 |
| Shock† | 18 (17%) | 11 (30%) | 11 (9%) | 0.006 |
| Outcomes | ||||
| NACSELD-ACLF | – | 11 (30%) | 29 (23%) | 0.11 |
| ICU transfer† | 41 (38%) | 16 (43%) | 31 (24%) | 0.05 |
| Length of stay | 12.6±8.2 | 17.5±22.0 | 11.1±16.2 | 0.11 |
| Death/hospice‡ | 15 (13.8%) | 11 (30%) | 24 (19%) | 0.12 |
Data presented as raw number (%) or mean±SD unless otherwise stated.
*Kruskal-Wallis, χ2 tests or analysis of variance as appropriate.
†P<0.05 between COVID-19+cirrhosis and cirrhosis alone using Fisher exact test, χ2 test or unpaired t-test.
‡P<0.05 between COVID-19 only and COVID-19+cirrhosis.
ACLF, acute-on-chronic liver failure; BiPAP, bilevel positive airway pressure; HE, hepatic encephalopathy; ICU, intensive care unit; MELD, model for end-stage liver disease; NACSELD, North American Consortium for the Study of End-Stage Liver Disease.