The impact of COVID-19 infection on miscellaneous inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic has emerged as a highly significant recent threat to global health with about 600,000,000 known infections and more than 6,450,000 deaths worldwide since its since its emergence in late 2019. COVID-19 symptoms are predominantly respiratory with mortality largely related to pulmonary manifestations, but the virus also potentially infects all parts of the gastrointestinal tract with related symptoms and manifestations that impact treatment and outcome. COVID-19 can directly infect the gastrointestinal tract because of the presence of widespread angiotensin converting ezyme-2 (ACE-2) receptors in the stomach and small intestine which can cause local COVID-19 infection and associated inflammation. COVID-19 can affect the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by direct infection from GI ulcerations related to stress, particularly in mechanically-ventilated patients or patients administered corticosteroids, and incidentally by deferred screening for gastrointestinal neoplasms or malignancies such as Barrett ’s esophagus or colorectal neoplasms due to patient preference or inability of health systems to accommodate endoscopic screenings due to COVID-19 exigencies. Moreover, COVID-19 infection may also affect those with underlying chronic gastrointestinal diseases, and treatment for COVID-19 and its co mplications may in turn impact these chronic conditions. We review the gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19 as well as its impact on patients w...
Source: Gastroenterology Clinics of North America - Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Source Type: research