Critically Ill COVID-19 Patient with Chronic Liver Disease - Insights into a Comprehensive Liver Intensive Care

The novel coronavirus-related coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been relentless in disrupting and overwhelming healthcare the world over. Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with chronic comorbidities, especially in those with metabolic syndrome, are well documented. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis patients are a special sub-group, among whom the management of COVID-19 is challenging. Understanding the pathophysiology of COVID-19 in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension improves our identification of at-risk patients for disease progression that will further help compartmentalize generalized and specialized treatment options in this special patient group. In this exhaustive review, we critically review the impact of COVID-19 on the liver and in chronic liver disease and cirrhosis patients. We further discuss common features associated with the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and cirrhosis, based on the renin-angiotensin system and deliberate current literature on guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19 and extrapolate the same to the cirrhosis population to provide a concise and stepwise, evidence-based management for cirrhosis patients with severe and critical COVID-19. There are no specific management guidelines for cirrhosis patients with COVID-19 and current recommendations for treatment are as per guidelines for general population. Nevertheless, specific issues like avoiding corticosteroids in decompensated patients with variceal bleeding, suspected sepsis, high grade hepatic encephalopathy and acute kidney injury, use of early mechanical ventilation strategies in those with severe ascites and hepatopulmonary syndrome, avoidance of remdesivir in advanced liver disease, and application of liver-specific severity scores for prognostication and identification of futility need to be highlighted.

Modulating the Intestinal Microbiota: Therapeutic Opportunities in Liver Disease

Gut microbiota has been demonstrated to have a significant impact on the initiation, progression and development of complications associated with multiple liver diseases. Notably, nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and cirrhosis, severe alcoholic hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and hepatic encephalopathy, have strong links to dysbiosis - or a pathobiological change in the microbiota. In this review, we provide clear and concise discussions on the human gut microbiota, methods of identifying gut microbiota and its functionality, liver diseases that are affected by the gut microbiota, including novel associations under research, and provide current evidence on the modulation of gut microbiota and its effects on specific liver disease conditions.

Severe alcoholic hepatitis: current perspectives

Severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a catastrophic disease in the natural history of alcoholic liver disease with a very high 180-day mortality. It can present as acute on chronic liver failure with worse prognosis in the presence of infections and higher grades of liver disease severity. The clinical scenario involves a patient with a recent history of heavy alcohol consumption within three months of presentation with jaundice and characteristic liver enzyme elevation pattern with coagulopathy, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding and sepsis that results in extrahepatic organ failures. Several liver disease severities and therapy response indicators are in clinical use. Even though not approved, the only recommended treatment option for patients with severe AH is corticosteroids, which is without long term survival benefit. Novel efficacious treatment options awaiting high-quality multi-center studies include liver transplantation (involves strict selection criteria), growth factor therapy and fecal microbiota transplantation. In this exhaustive review, we discuss the definitions, disease severity, histopathology, and treatment options – past, present, and future, in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis.

Hypercalcemic crisis due to adult T cell leukemia: a rare cause of paralytic ileus

Adult T cell leukemia- lymphoma is a rare aggressive malignancy of the peripheral T lymphocytes, caused by human T cell lymphotropic virus -1 (HTLV-1) infection. Hypercalcemia occurs in about 70% of patients with acute adult T cell leukemia. However, there are very few case reports of adult T cell leukemia presenting as a hypercalcemic crisis. We report a case of a 54-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain, constipation and altered sensorium. On examination he had generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly and paralytic ileus. Investigation revealed hypercalcemic crisis with low parathormone (PTH) levels. Peripheral smear and bone marrow aspirate were consistent with adult T cell leukemia. HTLV-1 serology was positive. Despite the corrective measures for hypercalcemia and chemotherapy, he succumbed to the illness in a week.