Acute kidney injury in patients with severe COVID-19

Introduction Some patients with COVID-19 pneumonia present systemic disease involving multiple systems. There is limited information about the clinical characteristics and events leading to acute kidney injury (AKI). We described the factors associated with the development of AKI and explored the relation of AKI and mortality in Mexican population with severe COVID-19. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of individuals with severe pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized at the largest third-level reference institution for COVID-19 care in Mexico between March and April 2020. Demographic information, comorbidities, clinical and laboratory data, dates of mechanical ventilation and hospitalization, mechanical-ventilator settings and use of vasoactive drugs were recorded. Results Of 99 patients studied, 58 developed AKI (58.6%). The group with AKI had higher body mass index (p=0.0003) and frequency of obesity (p=0.001); a higher requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation (p=0.008) and vasoactive drugs (p=0.004); greater levels of serum creatinine (p<0.001) and D-dimer on admission (p<0.001); and lower lymphocyte counts (p=0.001) than the non-AKI group. The multivariate analysis indicated that risk factors for AKI were obesity (adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=2.71, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.33-5.51, p=0.005); higher serum creatinine (HR=1.44, CI=1.02- 2.02, p=0.035) and D-dimer levels on admission (HR=1.14, CI=1.06-1.23, p<0.001). Inhospital mortality was higher in the AKI group than in the non-AKI group (65.5% vs. 14.6%; p=0.001). Conclusions AKI was common in our cohort of patients with severe COVID-19 and it was associated with mortality. The risk factors for AKI were obesity, elevated creatinine levels and higher D-dimer levels on admission. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any type of financial support and was carried out with staff from the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The work was approved by the ethics committee of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases and, given the retrospective nature of the study, informed consent was not necessary. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes We have the approval of the approved ethics committee and the database of our protocol.