A comparison of patients admitted between 1 April and 30 April 2020 to seven sites across Scotland with a history of chronic liver disease
| Reference range | 2017–2019 (n=348) Pre-COVID | 2020 (n=111) Lockdown | P value | ||
| Patient demographics | Age (years) | 57 (49–65) | 59 (47–68) | 0.879 | |
| Gender (male) (%) | 208 (59.8%) | 59 (53.2%) | 0.218 | ||
| SIMD | 1 (most deprived) | 161 (46.3%) | 46 (41.4%) | 0.422 | |
| 2 | 56 (16.1%) | 21 (18.9%) | |||
| 3 | 45 (13.0%) | 15 (13.5%) | |||
| 4 | 54 (15.6%) | 13 (11.7%) | |||
| 5 (least deprived) | 32 (9.2%) | 16 (14.5%) | |||
| Admission characteristics | Hb (g/L) | 115–165 | 105 (82–123) | 104.5 (86.5–127) | 0.553 |
| WCC (×109)* | 4–11 | 7.4 (4.9–10.7) | 7.6 (5.2–11.5) | 0.591 | |
| Platelets (×109) | 150–400 | 114 (75–174) | 121 (88–185) | 0.495 | |
| PT (s) | 10.5–13.4 | 17 (14–21) | 17 (14–20) | 0.378 | |
| Urea (mmol/L) | 2.5–6.6 | 5.0 (3.1–8.6) | 4.9 (3.3–8.6) | 0.542 | |
| Sodium (mmol/L) | 135–145 | 135 (130–138) | 137 (132–140) | 0.005 | |
| Creatinine (mmol/L) | 50–98 | 69 (56–97) | 72 (51–103) | 0.894 | |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 3.6–5 | 4.1 (3.6–4.5) | 4.1 (3.5–4.5) | 0.711 | |
| Bilirubin (mmol/L) | 3–21 | 50 (24–113) | 42 (18–101) | 0.097 | |
| ALT (U/L) | 10–50 | 29 (20–47) | 32 (23–45) | 0.568 | |
| ALP (U/L) | 40–125 | 157 (111–230) | 141 (104–202) | 0.071 | |
| Albumin (g/L) | 36–47 | 27 (22–31) | 28 (23–33) | 0.082 | |
| MELD | 16 (12–22) | 15 (12–19) | 0.224 | ||
| UKELD | 56 (52–60) | 54 (50–60) | 0.005 | ||
| Admission hospital | GRI | 83 (23.9%) | 23 (20.7%) | ||
| QEUH | 77 (22.1%) | 34 (30.6%) | |||
| RIE | 76 (21.8%) | 22 (19.8%) | |||
| Lanarkshire | 43 (12.4%) | 10 (9.0%) | |||
| Ninewells | 41 (11.8%) | 11 (9.9%) | |||
| DGRI | 22 (6.3%) | 7 (6.3%) | |||
| WGH | 6 (1.7%) | 4 (3.6%) | |||
| Inpatient outcomes | Length of stay (days) | 8 (4–15) | 7 (4–13) | 0.131 | |
| Inpatient mortality (%) | 36 (10.3%) | 9 (8.1%) | 0.490 | ||
| Disease characteristics | HCC (%) | 25 (7.2%) | 2 (1.8%) | 0.036 | |
| Ascites (%) | 187 (53.7%) | 51 (45.9%) | 0.953 | ||
| Varices (%)† | 206 (67.5%) | 57.3 (60%) | 0.074 | ||
| HE (%) | 110 (31.6%) | 42 (37.8%) | 0.225 | ||
| Aetiology of liver disease | ArLD (%) | 263 (75.6%) | 82 (73.9%) | 0.718 | |
| Non-ArLD | 85 (24.4%) | 29 (26.1%) | |||
| Reason for admission | Decompensation (%) | 267 (76.7%) | 80 (72.1%) | 0.320 | |
| Non-decompensation (%) | 81 (23.3%) | 31 (27.9%) |
All values are median/IQR unless otherwise stated.
*Patients admitted to one trust did not have white cell breakdown results recorded; therefore, this information was excluded from this part of the analysis.
†Those with no previous endoscopies were excluded (n=65).
ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; ArLD, alcohol-related liver disease; DGRI, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary; GRI, Glasgow Royal Infirmary; Hb, haemoglobin; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; MELD, Modified score for End-stage Liver Disease; PT, prothrombin time; QEUH, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital; RIE, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh; SIMD, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation; UKELD, United Kingdom End-stage Liver Disease score; WCC, white cell count; WGH, Western General Hospital.