Risk of mortality in people with chronic liver diseases hospitalized for Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in a tertiary hospital in Lombardy, Italy

The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection on patients with pre-existing chronic liver diseases (CLD) remains elusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) with CLD (CLD group) compared to those without CLD (non-CLD group). We performed a retrospective cohort study including patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalized at San Raffaele Hospital (Milan), stratified according to the presence or absence of CLD. A propensity score was estimated and used to match the two groups by age, gender, body mass index, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Predictors of mortality were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression model. Among 1210 patients with COVID-19, 41 (3.4%) were included in the CLD group and 1169 (96.6%) in the non-CLD group. Using a propensity score, we matched 41 patients in the CLD group with 123 in the non-CLD group. At admission, patients in the CLD group had worse liver function, lower platelets count, and lower c-reactive protein levels. By multivariate analysis, the CLD group showed a higher risk of death: OR 4.04 (95% CI 1.29-12.70; p= 0.017). Our study showed that COVID-19 with chronic liver diseases has a higher risk of mortality during hospitalization.