311. Impact of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19

Abstract Background Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease with a prevalence up to 30%. NAFLD is strongly associated with components of metabolic syndrome, already recognized as risk factors for worse outcomes in COVID-19. However, the impact of NAFLD on COVID-19 is not well characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between NAFLD and COVID-19 severity and outcomes. Methods A prospective observational study included consecutively hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19 at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb, Croatia between March and June 2021. On admission patients were screened for fatty liver by the ultrasound and subsequently diagnosed with NAFLD according to current guidelines. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data was collected and correlated to clinical outcomes. Results Of the 112 patients included in the study, 77 (68.7%) had NAFLD (59.7% males; median age of 62, IQR 54-66 years). Except for higher prevalence of obesity in NAFLD group (61.0% vs 17.1%) there were no differences in other comorbidities. NAFLD group had higher inflammatory markers CRP (96, IQR 51-138 vs 59, IQR 29-99mg/L) and IL-6 (129, IQR 44-169 vs 25, IQR 8-56pg/mL). Steatosis stage showed positive correlation with BMI, waist/hip ratio, CRP, PCT, IL-6, AST, ALT, LDH and fibrinogen. Steatosis stage correlated with clinical status at the 7-category scale on admission and at days 7, 14 and 28. Patients with NAFLD had longer duration of hospitalization (9, IQR 6-15 vs 6, IQR 5-11 days, p=0.024), more frequently required noninvasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen (24.7% vs 5.7%, p=0.018) and had higher rate of pulmonary embolism (22.1% vs 5.7%, p=0.024). There was no difference in mortality. The median value for clinical status on the ordinal scale at day 7 was significantly higher in NAFLD group at days 7 and 14, as presented in Fig. 1. Multivariable analysis identified age > 65 (OR 3.6, 95%CI 1.3-10.9), LDH > 350 (OR 8.1, 95%CI 2.7-29.4), NAFLD (OR 3.9, 1.1-20.5) and pulmonary embolism (OR 10.4, 2.7-48.3) associated with adverse outcomes at day 28. The figure shows the patients’ clinical status as assessed on the seven-category ordinal scale on admission and at day 7, 14 and 28, according to the presence of NAFLD. Categories on the ordinal scale were as follows: 1, discharged or ready for discharge; 2, hospitalization in a non–intensive care unit (ICU) without supplemental oxygen; 3, non–ICU hospitalization with supplemental oxygen; 4, ICU or non–ICU hospitalization with noninvasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen; 5, ICU hospitalization with mechanical ventilation; 6, ICU hospitalization with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or mechanical ventilation and additional organ support; and 7, death. Conclusion Our data suggests that NAFLD is associated with COVID-19 severity and might be linked to adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


Table 1. Summary of Cases
Conclusion. We describe the first case series with a temporal association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cryptococcosis. All cases were immunocompromised due to SOT. Some symptoms were attributed to post-COVID syndrome leading to significant delays in diagnosis for those patietns, highlighting the importance of considering this association for at-risk patients.

Impact of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19
Nina Vrsaljko, MD 1 ; Lara Samadan, MSc 2 ; Jelena Budimir, MD 1 ; Mirjana Balen Topic, MD, PhD 2 ; Ivan Kurelac, MD, PhD 1 ; Adriana Vince, MD, PhD 1 ; Neven Papić, MD, PhD 2 ; 1 University Hospital for Infectious Diseases Zagreb, Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia; 2 School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia, Zagreb, Grad Zagreb, Croatia Session: P-14. and Clinical Outcomes Background. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease with a prevalence up to 30%. NAFLD is strongly associated with components of metabolic syndrome, already recognized as risk factors for worse outcomes in COVID-19. However, the impact of NAFLD on COVID-19 is not well characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible association between NAFLD and COVID-19 severity and outcomes.
Methods. A prospective observational study included consecutively hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19 at the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb, Croatia between March and June 2021. On admission patients were screened for fatty liver by the ultrasound and subsequently diagnosed with NAFLD according to current guidelines. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data was collected and correlated to clinical outcomes.
The figure shows the patients' clinical status as assessed on the seven-category ordinal scale on admission and at day 7, 14 and 28, according to the presence of NAFLD. Categories on the ordinal scale were as follows: 1, discharged or ready for discharge; 2, hospitalization in a non-intensive care unit (ICU) without supplemental oxygen; 3, non-ICU hospitalization with supplemental oxygen; 4, ICU or non-ICU hospitalization with noninvasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen; 5, ICU hospitalization with mechanical ventilation; 6, ICU hospitalization with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or mechanical ventilation and additional organ support; and 7, death.
Conclusion. Our data suggests that NAFLD is associated with COVID-19 severity and might be linked to adverse outcomes in hospitalized patients.
Disclosures. All Authors: No reported disclosures Background. New York City emerged as the Epicenter for Covid-19 due to novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 soon after it was declared a Global Pandemic in early 2020 by the WHO. Covid-19 presents with a wide spectrum of illness from asymptomatic to severe respiratory failure, shock, multiorgan failure and death. Although the overall fatality rate is low, there is significant mortality among hospitalized patients. There is limited information exploring the impact of Covid-19 in community hospital settings in ethnically diverse populations. We aimed to identify risk factors for Covid-19 mortality in our institution.

Clinical Attributes and Risk Factors for In-Hospital Mortality among Covid-19 Patients in a Community Hospital Setting: A Propensity Matched Analysis
Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of hospitalized in our institution for Covid 19 from March 1 st to June 21 st 2020. It comprised of 425 discharged patients and 245 expired patients. Information was extracted from our EMR which included demographics, presenting symptoms, and laboratory data. We propensity matched 245 expired patients with a concurrent cohort of discharged patients. Statistically significant covariates were applied in matching, which included age, gender, race, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. The admission clinical attributes and laboratory parameters and outcomes were analyzed.
Conclusion. Our case series provides admission clinical characteristics and laboratory parameters that predict in-hospital mortality in propensity Covid 19 matched patients with a large Hispanic population. These risk factors will require further validation.
Disclosures. All Authors: No reported disclosures

Session: P-14. COVID-19 Complications, Co-infections, and Clinical Outcomes
Background. Biomarkers to predict the severity of lung damage due to COVID-19 are urgently needed to inform management and treatment decisions. Our objective was to investigate the predictive value of host proteins for worsening respiratory failure in one of the by COVID-19 most affected and diverse patient populations in the US.
Methods. We performed a prospective single-center cross-sectional study of 34 adult patients admitted to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, for respiratory symptoms due to PCR-confirmed COVID-19. Exclusion criteria were age < 21, history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, and/or underlying severe chronic lung diseases requiring home O2 and/or high dose steroids. We stratified and compared patients by whether they developed worsening respiratory failure, necessitating transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) during their hospital stay. Using a custom Luminex Assay, we measured hospital admission serum concentrations of 8 host proteins, representing respiratory-associated epithelial (RAGE, SP-D, CC16), endothelial (Ang-2, vWF), and immune pathways (S100A12, ICAM-1, VCAM-1).
Results. Except for race and WHO COVID-19 scores, demographics, co-morbidities, symptoms, and symptom duration were not statistically significantly different between patients requiring transfer to the ICU (n=15) and non-ICU patients (n=19). Higher log-transformed levels for 5/8 proteins (S100A12, ICAM-1, Ang-2, RAGE, SP-D) showed significant or marginally significant increased cause-specific hazard for ICU transfer (n=15). Estimated cumulative incidence functions further showed a significantly or near significantly increased risk for ICU transfer for patients with above the median values of S100A12 or ICAM-1 (p=0.013), Ang-2 (p=0.056) or RAGE (p=0.077), respectively ( Figure 1). Host proteins predicting need for ICU transfer did not correlate strongly with other clinical laboratory markers for COVID-19 severity (CRP, LDH, D-Dimer, Fibrinogen, Ferritin). Figure 1. Patients with above median levels of host protein markers S100A12, ICAM-1, Ang-2, and RAGE have a significantly or near significantly increased risk for severe respiratory failure requiring transfer to the ICU.
Conclusion. These results suggest that host proteins have additional predictive value for the severity of COVID-19-associated lung damage at time of presentation to the hospital.