postmortem liver pathology findings in patients with covid-19: a systematic review

Background: the coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) pandemic promptly became a significant public health challenge with extra-pulmonary manifestations, including liver damage. postmortem examination is crucial for gaining a better understanding of these manifestations and improving patient management. this study summarized the current knowledge of the postmortem liver pathology of patients with covid-19. methods: this review was conducted on studies evaluating the postmortem macroscopic and microscopic findings of the liver in patients with covid-19. accordingly, we searched 4 electronic databases (pubmed, scopus, google scholar, & web of science) until june 2021. from the 317 screened articles, 16 articles examining a total of 332 patients who had died due to covid-19 were selected. results: the significant findings of the liver were moderate macro and microvesicular steatosis with mild sinusoidal dilation, active lobular and portal vein thrombosis, mildly-increased lymphocyte filtration in sinusoidal space, and multifocal hepatic necrosis. additionally, the most common comorbidities were hypertension and other metabolic diseases. in conclusion, liver damage due to covid-19 infection has various manifestations in patients who have expired due to covid-19. conclusion: therefore, monitoring liver function during the course and treatment of this disease is necessary for better patient management and to decrease the covid-19-induced mortality rate covid.