Gastrointestinal and Liver Manifestations of COVID-19

Gastrointestinal and Liver Manifestations of COVID-19

Sunil Taneja, Rohit Mehtani, Yogesh Kumar Chawla

A novel Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 illness, has spread throughout the world after the first case was reported from Wuhan, China, in December 2019. This illness typically causes respiratory symptoms like fever, cough, and shortness of breath, although atypical presentation with gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea are being increasingly reported. The viral RNA has been detected in saliva and stool of such patients, which raises concerns regarding the risk of transmission during gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. Many patients also have liver involvement, with the most common manifestation being deranged liver function tests. This review highlights the symptomatology, mechanism, and histopathology findings of SARS-CoV-2 in GI tract and liver. This review also focuses on implications of COVID-19 in patients afflicted with chronic liver disease and in patients undergoing liver transplantation.

2020

covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, Liver, Gastrointestinal, rna β-coronavirus

10.1055/s-0040-1713837

Annals of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

Science, General works