A comparison of patients admitted between April and July 2017–2019 to those in 2020 to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh with a history of chronic liver disease
| Reference range | 2017–2019 (n=284) Pre-COVID | 2020 (n=89) Lockdown | P value | ||
| Patient demographics | Age (years) | 57.1 (49–67) | 58.0 (48–68) | 0.912 | |
| Gender (male) (%) | 46 (55.4%) | 175 (61.6%) | 0.096 | ||
| SIMD | 1 (most deprived) | 70 (24.7%) | 22 (24.7%) | 0.791 | |
| 2 | 65 (23.0%) | 19 (21.3%) | |||
| 3 | 51 (18.0%) | 17 (19.1%) | |||
| 4 | 43 (15.2%) | 12 (13.5%) | |||
| 5 (least deprived) | 54 (19.1%) | 19 (21.4%) | |||
| Admission characteristics | Haemoglobin (g/L) | 115–165 | 108 (90–122) | 106 (83.5–121.5) | 0.494 |
| WCC (×109) | 4–11 | 8.0 (5.9–11.5) | 7.6 (5.3–11.8) | 0.401 | |
| Neutrophils (×109) | 2–7.5 | 5.54 (3.90–8.73) | 4.75 (3.25–8.15) | 0.241 | |
| Lymphocytes (×109) | 1.5–4.5 | 1.11 (0.73–1.65) | 1.16 (0.78–1.78) | 0.388 | |
| Platelets (×109) | 150–400 | 114 (75–174) | 124 (80–175) | 0.442 | |
| PT (s) | 10.5–13.5 | 17 (15–22) | 17 (15–20) | 0.469 | |
| Urea (mmol/L) | 2.5–6.6 | 5.3 (3.5–10.2) | 5.5 (3.1–10.2) | 0.896 | |
| Sodium (mmol/L) | 135–145 | 134 (130–138) | 136 (131–139) | 0.042 | |
| Creatinine (mmol/L) | 50–98 | 73 (61–109) | 76 (59–112) | 0.988 | |
| Potassium (mmol/L) | 3.6–5 | 4.0 (3.6–4.4) | 4.0 (3.5–4.5) | 0.980 | |
| Bilirubin (mmol/L) | 3–21 | 53 (29–149) | 60 (31–109) | 0.646 | |
| ALT (U/L) | 10–50 | 32 (20–54) | 34 (22–54) | 0.533 | |
| ALP (U/L) | 40–125 | 178 (116–256) | 164 (124–210) | 0.179 | |
| MELD | 17 (12–23) | 17 (13–21) | 0.805 | ||
| UKELD | 57 (53–62) | 57 (53–60) | 0.246 | ||
| Inpatient outcomes | Length of stay (days) | 7 (4–14) | 7 (3.5–14) | 0.525 | |
| Inpatient mortality (%) | 39 (13.7%) | 9 (10.1%) | 0.373 | ||
| Disease characteristics | HCC (%) | 26 (9.2%) | 4 (4.5%) | 0.158 | |
| Ascites (%) | 177 (62.3%) | 54 (60.7%) | 0.780 | ||
| Varices* (%) | 173 (62.0%) | 50 (61.0%) | 0.866 | ||
| HE (%) | 102 (35.9%) | 19 (21.3%) | 0.010 | ||
| Aetiology of liver disease | ARLD (%) | 237 (83.5%) | 76 (85.4%) | 0.663 | |
| Non-ARLD | 47 (16.5%) | 13 (14.6%) | |||
| Reason for admission | Decompensation (%) | 235 (82.7%) | 63 (70.8%) | 0.014 | |
| Non-decompensation (%) | 49 (17.3%) | 26 (29.2%) |
All values are median/IQR unless otherwise stated.
*Those with no previous endoscopies were excluded (n=12).
ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine transaminase; ArLD, alcohol-related liver disease; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; MELD, Modified score for End-stage Liver Disease; PT, prothrombin time; UKELD, United Kingdom End-stage Liver Disease score; WCC, white cell count.