Sclerosing Cholangitis in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patient: An Enemy in Disguise

Abstract

COVID-19 is identified as primarily a respiratory illness but its impact on other end organs has increasingly been brought to light in literature. In rare occasions, patients develop liver disease that deteriorates to the point of transplant consideration. Mechanism of this physiologic drift is not fully understood. We describe a rare case of COVID-19 in a 57-year-old man whose clinical course was complicated with the development of diffuse intra-hepatic strictures. This report demonstrates the abrupt development of cholestatic liver injury in critically ill COVID-19 patients, adding to the literature on long-term non-respiratory impacts of COVID-19.