Covid-19 in end-stage renal disease patients with renal replacement therapies: a systematic review and meta-analysis (preprint)

ABSTRACT

IntroductionThe novel coronavirus (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, showed various prevalence and case-fatality rates (CFR) among patients with different pre-existing chronic conditions. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with renal replacement therapy (RRT) might have a higher prevalence and CFR due to reduced immune function from uremia and kidney tropism of SARS-CoV-2, but there was no systematic study on the infection and mortality of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in ESRD patients who are on RRT. MethodsWe searched five electronic databases and performed a systematic review and meta-analysis up to June 30, 2020, to evaluate the prevalence and case fatality rate (CFR) of the COVID-19 infection among ESRD patients with RRT. The global COVID-19 data were retrieved from the international database on June 30, 2020, for estimating the prevalence and CFR of the general population as referencing points. ResultsOf 3,272 potential studies, 34 were eligible studies consisted of 1,944 COVID-19 confirmed cases in 21,873 ESRD patients with RRT from 12 countries in four WHO regions. The overall pooled prevalence in ESRD patients with RRT was 3.10% [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-5.72] which was higher than referencing 0.14% global average prevalence. The overall estimated CFR of COVID-19 in ESRD patients with RRT was 18.06% (95%CI 14.09- 22.32) which was higher than the global average at 4.98%. ConclusionsThis meta-analysis suggested high COVID-19 prevalence and CFR in ESRD patients with RRT. ESRD patients with RRT should have their specific protocol of COVID-19 prevention and treatment to mitigate excess cases and deaths. Author summaryChronic kidney disease (CKD) was associated with increasing severity and mortality of COVID-19. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients were at the terminal stage of CKD and had reduced immune function due to uremia. Additionally, ESRD patients with kidney transplantation had a diminished immune system from immunosuppressive agents. Kidneys might be the secondary target of SARS-CoV-2 after the respiratory tract regardless of the previous history of kidney disease, preferably the glomerulus, which was associated with the richness of some specific protein-coding genes in the kidney. The overall pooled prevalence in ESRD patients with renal replacement therapy was approximately 22 times of the referencing global average prevalence. The overall estimated case fatality rate of COVID-19 in ESRD patients with renal replacement therapy was approximately 3.6 times the global average. ESRD patients with renal replacement therapy had high COVID-19 prevalence and case fatality rate. We suggested that ESRD patients with renal replacement therapy should have their specific protocol of COVID-19 prevention and treatment to mitigate excess cases and deaths.