Although kidney injury is not one of the complications of COVID-19, some patients with COVID-19 pneumonia have exhibited renal damage. Yet, little is known about the association between COVID-19 pneumonia and renal involvement. This study aims to evaluate kidney-related complications in patients with COVID-19.
This is a retrospective, single-center study that included a total of 333 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The primary outcome of the study was renal involvement in patients, including proteinuria, AKI, and hematuria.
Of 333 patients, 251 (75.4%) had abnormal AKI or urine dipstick tests. A total of 198 patients exhibited renal involvement for the median duration of 12 days, and 118 (59.6%) of them experienced remission of pneumonia during. Besides, 68.5% of patients experienced remission of proteinuria. 35 patients developed AKI, and 16 (45.7%) of them experienced complete recovery of kidney function.
The findings further suggested that patients with renal involvement had higher overall mortality (28 of 251 [11.2%]) than those without renal involvement (1 of 82 [1.2%]). The severity of pneumonia was associated with lower odds of recovery from AKI and proteinuric or hematuric remission.
The research concluded that renal involvement occurred in a majority of COVID-19 patients, and renal complications were associated with a higher rate of mortality.
Ref: https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/31/6/1157
