The Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes Associated with Acute Kidney Injury in Patients with COVID-19: Data from a Large Cohort in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Kidney involvement, ranging from mild hematuria and proteinuria to acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), is a recent finding with various incidence rates reported among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Given the various AKI rates and their associated risk factors, lack of AKI recovery in the majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and limited data regarding AKI in patients with COVID-19 in Iran, we aim to investigate the potential risk factors for AKI development and its incidence in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we enrolled adult patients referred to the Sina Hospital, Iran, from February 20 to May 14, 2020, with either a positive PCR test or a highly susceptible chest computed tomography features consistent with COVID-19 diagnosis. AKI was defined according to the kidney disease improving global outcomes criteria, and patients were stratified based on their AKI staging. We evaluated the risk indicators associated with AKI during hospitalization besides in-hospital outcomes and recovery rate at the time of discharge. RESULTS: We evaluated 516 patients with a mean age of 57.6 ± 16.1 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1.69 who were admitted with the COVID-19 diagnosis. AKI development was observed among 194 (37.6%) patients, comprising 61.9% patients in stage 1, 18.0% in stage 2, and 20.1% in stage 3. Out of all patients, AKI occurred in 58 (11.2%) patients during the hospital course, and 136 (26.3%) patients arrived with AKI upon admission. AKI development was positively associated with all of the in-hospital outcomes, including intensive care unit admissions, need for invasive ventilation, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), acute cardiac injury, acute liver injury, multiorgan damage, and mortality. Patients with stage 3 AKI showed a significantly higher mortality rate, ARDS, and need for invasive ventilation than other stages. After multivariable analysis, male sex (odds ratio [OR]: 11.27), chronic kidney disease (CKD) (OR: 6.89), history of hypertension (OR: 1.69), disease severity (OR: 2.27), and high urea levels (OR: 1.04) on admission were independent risk indicators of AKI development. Among 117 (28.1%) patients who experienced AKI and survived, only 33 (28.2%) patients made a recovery from the AKI, and 84 (71.8%) patients did not exhibit full recovery at the time of discharge. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: We found that male sex, history of CKD, hypertension, disease severity, and high serum urea were independent risk factors associated with AKI in patients with COVID-19. Also, higher stages of AKI were associated with increased risk of mortality and in-hospital complications. Our results indicate a necessity for more precise care and monitoring for AKI during hospitalization in patients with COVID-19, and lack of AKI recovery at the time of discharge is a common complication in such patients.

Predicting Risk Score for Mechanical Ventilation in Hospitalized Adult Patients Suffering from COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has become a pandemic since December 2019, causing millions of deaths worldwide. It has a wide spectrum of severity, ranging from mild infection to severe illness requiring mechanical ventilation. In the middle of a pandemic, when medical resources (including mechanical ventilators) are scarce, there should be a scoring system to provide the clinicians with the information needed for clinical decision-making and resource allocation. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a scoring system based on the data obtained on admission, to predict the need for mechanical ventilation in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This study included COVID-19 patients admitted to Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences from February 20 to May 29, 2020. Patients' data on admission were retrospectively recruited from Sina Hospital COVID-19 Registry (SHCo-19R). Multivariable logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to identify the predictive factors for mechanical ventilation. RESULTS: A total of 681 patients were included in the study; 74 patients (10.9%) needed mechanical ventilation during hospitalization, while 607 (89.1%) did not. Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that age (OR,1.049; 95% CI:1.008-1.091), history of diabetes mellitus (OR,3.216; 95% CI:1.134-9.120), respiratory rate (OR,1.051; 95% CI:1.005-1.100), oxygen saturation (OR,0.928; 95% CI:0.872-0.989), CRP (OR,1.013; 95% CI:1.001-1.024) and bicarbonate level (OR,0.886; 95% CI:0.790-0.995) were risk factors for mechanical ventilation during hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: A risk score has been developed based on the available data within the first hours of hospital admission to predict the need for mechanical ventilation. This risk score should be further validated to determine its applicability in other populations.

Risk indicators associated with in-hospital mortality and severity in patients with diabetes mellitus and confirmed or clinically suspected COVID-19.

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate risk indicators of in-hospital mortality and severity of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: In this retrospective study, we studied patients with COVID-19 referred to Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from February 20 to May 14, 2020. Patients with either a positive real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction test of swab specimens or high clinical suspicion according to the World Health Organization interim guidance were included. We accurately divided all patients into two groups based on diabetes affection and followed-up patients with DM based on incurring death, severe COVID-19, and in-hospital complications. RESULTS: We enrolled 574 patients with COVID-19 in the final analysis, of whom 176 (30.7%) patients had DM. In this study, 104 (18.1%) patients deceased, and 380 (66.2%) patients incurred severe COVID-19. We found that COVID-19 patients with DM had a significantly higher mortality rate (P value<0.001), severe disease (P value<0.001), and in-hospital complications (all P values<0.05). Besides that, in patients with DM, admission temperature (odds ratio (OR): 1.69, P value: 0.024), oxygen saturation (OR: 0.92, P value: 0.004), and urea (OR: 1.01, P value: 0.048) were independent risk indicators of in-hospital mortality. In addition, subgroup analysis of diabetic patients based on admission glucose level showed significant differences between these groups regarding acute cardiac injury (P value: 0.044) and acute liver injury (P value: 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DM admitted with lower oxygen saturation, elevated temperature, and higher urea are more susceptible to progress to more severe COVID-19 and poor prognosis. This indicates a necessity for more precise care during hospitalization for these patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-020-00701-2.