AKI Occurs in 7 Percent of Those Hospitalized With COVID-19

TUESDAY, Sept. 22, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Acute kidney injury (AKI) occurs in 7 percent of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and is associated with increased in-hospital mortality, according to a study published online Sept. 22 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Yichun Cheng, M.D., from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and colleagues examined the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of AKI in 1,392 adults with COVID-19 in a retrospective cohort study.

The researchers found that 7 percent of patients developed AKI during hospitalization; 40 percent of these cases (40 of 99) occurred within one week of admission. Severe disease, higher serum creatinine, lymphopenia, and elevated D-dimer were associated with a higher risk for AKI (odds ratios, 2.25, 2.19, 1.99, and 2.68, respectively). In patients with AKI stage 1, stage 2, and stage 3, in-hospital mortality was 62, 77, and 80 percent, respectively. Even after adjustment for confounders, AKI was associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 5.12).

“Prior to this study, there was limited information concerning epidemiological characteristics and outcomes associated with AKI in patients with COVID-19,” a coauthor said in a statement. “Our results indicate that AKI is strongly associated with mortality, and that careful monitoring of AKI is necessary early in the course of infection.”

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