Acute kidney injury in patients with severe COVID-19 in Mexico (preprint)

ABSTRACT

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). In-hospital 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. Key words Acute kidney injury; AKI; acute renal failure; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2.