ABSTRACT
Background:The type of pneumonia that is caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across the world in a pandemic. It is not clear if COVID-19 patients have any lower urinary tract signs or symptoms.Methods:The effect of COVID-19 on lower urinary tract function was studied in a multi-centre study including 238 patients who were admitted with symptoms caused by COVID-19 to the university hospital of Aachen in Germany and Tabriz in Iran. Results:None of the patients reported to have any lower urinary tract symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 was found in the urine of 19 % of the tested patients. The mortality rate in COVID-19 infected patients with microscopic haematuria together with white blood cells in their urine, was significantly increased from 48% to 61% in the Tabriz cohort (p-value=0.03) and from 30 % to 35% in the Aachen cohort (p-value =0.045). Furthermore, in the group of patients with SARS-CoV-2 urine PCR, the mortality rate rose from 33% to 50%. (p-value =0.039).Conclusion:Patients admitted with COVID-19 infection did not report to have any lower urinary tract symptoms even those patient who had a positive Urine SARS-CoV-2 PCR.In addition, hematuria, WBC in urine as well as COVID-19 positivity in urine were found to be strong negative prognostic factors in admitted COVID-19 patients.