Liver injury in COVID-19: The hepatic aspect of the respiratory syndrome - what we know so far

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed a serious threat to global public health. Although primarily, the infection causes lung injury, liver enzyme abnormalities have also been reported to occur during the course of the disease. We conducted an extensive literature review using the PubMed database on articles covering a broad range of issues related to COVID-19 and hepatic injury. The present review summarizes available information on the spectrum of liver involvement, the possible mechanisms and risk factors of liver injury due to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the prognostic significance of the presence of liver injury. Hopefully, this review will enable clinicians, especially the hepatologists, to understand and manage the liver derangements they may encounter in these patients better and provide guidance for further studies on the liver injury of COVID-19.