Hepatic complications of COVID‐19 and its treatment

Abstract

COVID‐19 is highly contagious and has a variety of clinical manifestations, it can affect a number of other organs in addition to the lungs, and liver injury may occur. SARS‐CoV‐2 can cause liver injury through systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), cytokine storms, ischemia‐reperfusion injury, side effects of treatment drugs, and underlying liver disease and can attack liver cells directly via ACE2. Clinical studies have found that liver injury in COVID‐19 patients mainly manifests as abnormal liver biochemical indicators, but there have been no reports of liver failure caused by this disease. The number of COVID‐19 patients with liver injury is increasing, and the incidence of liver injury in COVID‐19 patients with severe disease are higher than in patients with mild disease. Liver injury may be a risk factor for progresses and worsens in patients with COVID‐19, and it is necessary to pay attention to the occurrence of liver injury in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID‐19.