Effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on incidence and treatment strategies of hepatocellular carcinoma in people with chronic liver disease

Table 2 Incidence rates of clinical sequelae of chronic liver disease patients with coronavirus disease 2019 diagnosis in 2020-2022 and controls after 1:1 propensity score matching

Outcomes	2020-2022
	COVID-19 patients (n = 55163)					Control (n = 55163)					COVID-19 patients vs control
	Cumulative incidence		Crude incidence rate			Cumulative incidence		Crude incidence rate
			(Events/10000 person-yr)					(Events/10000 person-yr)
	New events	Rate, %	Estimate	95%CI	Person-years	New events	Rate, %	Estimate	95%CI	Person-years	IRR1	95% CI	P value
HCC	211	0.39	64.2	(55.8, 73.5)	32870	276	0.51	54	(47.8, 60.8)	51087	1.19	(0.99, 1.42)	0.06
All-cause mortality	2273	4.12	676.5	(648.9, 704.9)	33601	1600	2.9	306.2	(291.4, 321.6)	52258	2.21b	(2.07, 2.36)	< 0.001
Adverse hepatic outcomes	2407	4.62	789.3	(758.1, 821.5)	30495	2183	4.19	453.5	(434.7, 473.0)	48133	1.74b	(1.64, 1.85)	< 0.001
Cirrhosis	2493	4.68	803.8	(772.6, 836.0)	31014	2206	4.14	450.1	(431.5, 469.2)	49015	1.79b	(1.68, 1.89)	< 0.001
Liver decompensation hepatorenal syndrome	88	0.16	26.3	(21.1, 32.4)	33468	106	0.19	20.4	(16.7, 24.6)	52070	1.29	(0.97, 1.71)	0.08
Liver failure	71	0.13	21.3	(16.6, 26.8)	33371	91	0.17	17.5	(14.1, 21.5)	51902	1.21	(0.89, 1.66)	0.22
Hepatic coma/encephalopathy	60	0.11	17.9	(13.7, 23.1)	33454	61	0.11	11.7	(9.0, 15.1)	52033	1.53a	(1.07, 2.18)	0.02
Ascites	129	0.24	38.7	(32.3, 46.0)	33341	154	0.28	29.7	(25.2, 34.8)	51882	1.30a	(1.03, 1.65)	0.03
Variceal bleeding	150	0.28	45.5	(38.5, 53.4)	32977	159	0.29	31	(26.4, 36.2)	51316	1.47b	(1.17, 1.84)	< 0.001
Curative treatment to HCC	130	0.24	39.5	(33.0, 46.9)	32892	174	0.32	34	(29.1, 39.5)	51156	1.16	(0.93, 1.46)	0.2
Hepatic resection	86	0.16	25.9	(20.7, 32.0)	33206	109	0.2	21.1	(17.3, 25.5)	51664	1.23	(0.93, 1.63)	0.16
Liver transplantation	13	0.02	3.9	(2.1, 6.6)	33442	20	0.04	3.8	(2.3, 5.9)	52028	1.01	(0.50, 2.03)	0.97
Radiofrequency ablation of liver	51	0.09	15.3	(11.4, 20.1)	33294	75	0.14	14.5	(11.4, 18.2)	51784	1.06	(0.74, 1.51)	0.76
Non-curative treatment to HCC	394	0.75	122.5	(110.7, 135.3)	32151	627	1.19	125.6	(116.0, 135.8)	49916	0.98	(0.86, 1.11)	0.7
Transarterial chemoembolization	83	0.15	25	(19.9, 31.0)	33239	125	0.23	24.2	(20.1, 28.8)	51691	1.03	(0.78, 1.36)	0.82
Radiotherapy to liver	3	0.01	0.9	(0.2, 2.6)	33543	3	0.01	0.6	(0.1, 1.7)	52189	1.56	(0.31, 7.71)	0.59
Systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy	351	0.66	108.2	(97.2, 120.2)	32434	547	1.03	108.6	(99.7, 118.1)	50363	1	(0.87, 1.14)	0.96
Palliative care	924	1.73	285.8	(267.7, 304.8)	32332	904	1.7	179	(167.5, 191.0)	50510	1.60b	(1.46, 1.75)	< 0.001

¹IRR > 1 (or < 1) indicates COVID-19 patients had higher (lower) risk of clinical outcome compared to the matched control group.

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01. IRR is considered statistically significant, with indicates ^aP < 0.05 and indicates ^bP < 0.01. COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; IRR: Incidence rate ratio.