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Review
. 2023 Jul 25:16:17562848231188586.
doi: 10.1177/17562848231188586. eCollection 2023.

COVID-19 in patients with liver disease and liver transplant: clinical implications, prevention, and management

Gabriel Perreault  1 , Charlotte Ching  2 , Yael R Nobel  3
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 in patients with liver disease and liver transplant: clinical implications, prevention, and management

Gabriel Perreault et al. Therap Adv Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had enormous implications for the care of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD), cirrhosis, and liver transplant (LT). Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 vary in patients with CLD and cirrhosis compared to healthy controls, and in patients with LT compared to patients without LT. Several special considerations apply to the approach to vaccination and treatment in patients with CLD and LT. The practice of liver transplantation has also been heavily impacted by the pandemic, including persistent reductions in living donor LT and increases in LT for an indication of alcohol-related liver disease. Recent medical society guidelines strive to standardize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 testing in donors and recipients and the approach to transplantation after recovered from COVID-19 infection, but certain controversies remain.

Keywords: COVID-19; cirrhosis; liver transplant; vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Available treatments for COVID-19 and special considerations for patients with CLD and LT. CLD, chronic liver disease; LT, liver transplant; NIV, noninvasive ventilation.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) Weekly liver transplant volume and (b) weekly liver transplant waitlist additions in the United States between 5 January 2020 and 16 October 2022 based on data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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