Vertical transmission and kidney damage in newborns whose mothers had coronavirus disease 2019 during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic. However, the hazard to newborns in pregnancy remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the vertical transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from mother to child and developmental toxicity in the fetus. METHODS: All clinical information was recorded on 22 neonates born to mothers with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia in Tongji Hospital. RESULTS: The average birth weight of the 22 newborns (16 males and 6 females) was 2980 g, and the mean gestational week was 37W+3. The birth weight of three babies was <2500 g, and the gestational week of all three low-birth-weight neonates was less than 36W. Three newborns had minor lesions of infection in the lungs as shown by computed tomography (CT) scans. Furthermore, three newborns had elevated SARS-CoV-2-related immunoglobin M (IgM) antibodies, and 11 newborns (52.4%) had positive immunoglobin G (IgG) antibodies. Notably, both cystatin C and ß2-microglobulin were increased in all newborns. Five of the 21 tested newborns had leukocytosis, and 11 had increased neutrophil levels. In addition, the aspartate aminotransferase of 18 newborns and the γ-glutamyl transpeptidase of 19 newborns were increased. Total bilirubin was elevated in all newborns and serum albumin was reduced in 20 of 22 newborns. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to discover that COVID-19 infection in the third trimester of pregnancy could cause fetal kidney developmental injury, as indicated by increased cystatin C and ß2-microglobulin in all neonates. Furthermore, there is the possibility of maternal-fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Prevalence of liver injury and correlation with clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19: systematic review with meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Liver involvement of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been reported in several papers, but without homogeneous findings. We aimed to systematically review the prevalence of liver involvement in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection at their hospital admission, and its correlation with disease severity and clinical outcomes in patients with or without pre-existing chronic liver disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Medline, PMC, clinical trial registries, and other Coronavirus family publications for studies reporting data on SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 and liver function tests (LFTs) alterations, as well as clinical course of patients with chronic liver disease or cirrhosis. Case reports, preprints, editorials, reviews were excluded. We also revised literature to describe the background of liver involvement during SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: 36 studies, including 20724 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, were included. The pooled prevalence of LFTs abnormalities at admission was 46.9% (AST 26.5%, ALT 22.8%, GGT 22.5%, ALP 5.7%, tBIL 8.0%). ALT, AST, tBIL were independent predictors of disease severity (ALT OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.17-2.03; AST OR 3.17, 95% CI 2.10-4.77; tBIL OR 2.32, 95% CI 1.18-4.58) and in-hospital mortality (ALT OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.12-1.96; AST OR 4.39, 95% CI 2.68-7.18; tBIL OR 7.75, 95% CI 2.28-26.40). Heterogeneity among studies was high. The few available data also reported that COVID-19 was associated with increased risk of liver decompensation and mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: LFTs alterations were reported in up to 47% of unselected patients with COVID-19 and were associated with severe disease or in-hospital mortality. In cirrhotic patients, COVID-19 was associated with high risk of liver decompensation or mortality.

Clinical Features and Liver Injury in Patients with COVID-19 in the Japanese Population.

Objective Liver injury is a notable complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to clarify the clinical features and liver injury in Japanese patients with COVID-19. Methods We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study. All consecutive patients with COVID-19 who visited or were admitted to our hospital before May 12, 2020, were enrolled. Their demographics, symptoms, laboratory findings, comorbidities, concomitant drugs, treatment, and clinical course were reviewed. We defined liver injury as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels over the upper limit of normal. Results Twenty-two patients with COVID-19 (median age, 47 years old; men/women, 13/9) were enrolled. Two patients had underlying liver diseases, and two were diagnosed as having COVID-19 without any symptoms. Elevated ALT and GGT levels were found in 12 and 12 patients, respectively, and liver injury was observed in 15 patients (68.2%). Compared with the patients without liver injury, those with liver injury had a significantly higher fever during the clinical course (median, 37.5°C vs. 38.8°C, p=0.006). A significant correlation was found between the highest serum liver values and the highest body temperature in each patient. Among the 22 patients, 4 required artificial respiratory support, and 2 died thereafter. Liver injury was not associated with the severity or mortality of COVID-19. Conclusion Elevated levels of liver enzymes in the Japanese patients with COVID-19 were associated with the highest body temperature during the clinical course but not with the severity or mortality of COVID-19.

Positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA recurs repeatedly in a case recovered from COVID-19: dynamic results from 108 days of follow-up.

The evidence of long-term clinical dynamic on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA re-positive case are less. We performed a 108 days follow-up on dynamic clinical presentations in a case, who hospitalized three times due to the positive recurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA after discharge, to understand the prognosis of the 2019-Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In this case, positive SARS-CoV-2 recurred even after apparent recovery (normal CT imaging, no clinical symptoms, negative SARS-CoV-2 on stool sample and negative serum IgM test) from COVID-19, viral shedding duration lasted for 65 days, the time from symptom onset to disappearance was up to 95 days. Erythrocyte-associated indicators, liver function and serum lipid metabolism presented abnormal throughout during the observation period. Awareness of atypical presentations such as this one is important to prompt the improvement of the management of COVID-19.

Characteristics of in peripheral blood of 70 hospitalized patients and 8 diarrhea patients with COVID-19.

Objective: To analyze the blood test indicators of patients after infection of COVID-19 in Chongqing and analyze the clinical indicators of 8 patients with diarrhea. Materials and Methods: From January 26, 2019 to February 13, 2020, 70 patients diagnosed with 2019-nCoV according to the World Health Organization interim guidance for NCP and divided into diarrhea and non-diarrhea groups. The laboratory tests liver and kidney function, blood routine, coagulation function, and immune status. Results: The study population included 70 hospitalized patients with confirmed CONV-2019. NCP patients (43males and 27 females) with a mean age of 48.57±17.80 (9~82) years and only 4.3% of patients have lung-related diseases. The positive rate of ESR, CRP, PT, IL6, lymphocyte count, GGT, Prealbumin and CD4 was more than 50%. We further analyzed the differences between 8 diarrhea patients and 62 non-diarrhea patients. Among these indicators, only Lymphocyte, CRP, Prealbumin and Cystatin C positive rate is more than 50%. Although there is no statistical difference in GGT, 100% of the 7 patients tested decreased. Conclusion: Our data recommended that the ESR, CRP, PT, IL6, lymphocyte count, GGT, prealbumin and CD4 have important value in the diagnosis of COVID-19, and the decrease of GGT may be an important indicator for judging the intestinal dysfunction of patients.

Routine blood tests as a potential diagnostic tool for COVID-19.

Objectives The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to date, the epidemic has gradually spread to 209 countries worldwide with more than 1.5 million infected people and 100,000 deaths. Amplification of viral RNA by rRT-PCR serves as the gold standard for confirmation of infection, yet it needs a long turnaround time (3-4 h to generate results) and shows false-negative rates as large as 15%-20%. In addition, the need of certified laboratories, expensive equipment and trained personnel led many countries to limit the rRT-PCR tests only to individuals with pronounced respiratory syndrome symptoms. Thus, there is a need for alternative, less expensive and more accessible tests. Methods We analyzed the plasma levels of white blood cells (WBCs), platelets, C-reactive protein (CRP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of 207 patients who, after being admitted to the emergency room of the San Raffaele Hospital (Milan, Italy) with COVID-19 symptoms, were rRT-PCR tested. Of them, 105 tested positive, whereas 102 tested negative. Results Statistically significant differences were observed for WBC, CRP, AST, ALT and LDH. Empirical thresholds for AST and LDH allowed the identification of 70% of either COVID-19-positive or -negative patients on the basis of routine blood test results. Conclusions Combining appropriate cutoffs for certain hematological parameters could help in identifying false-positive/negative rRT-PCR tests. Blood test analysis might be used as an alternative to rRT-PCR for identifying COVID-19-positive patients in those countries which suffer from a large shortage of rRT-PCR reagents and/or specialized laboratory.