Long-term kidney function recovery and mortality after COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury: an international multi-centre observational cohort study
Byorn W.L. Tan, Bryce W. Q. Tan, Amelia L.M. Tan, Emily Schriver, Alba Gutiérrez‐Sacristán, Priyam Das, William Yuan, Meghan R. Hutch, Noelia García Barrio, Miguel Pedrera‐Jiménez, Noor Abu-el-rub, Michele Morris, Bertrand Moal, Guillaume Verdy, Kelly Cho, Yuk‐Lam Ho, Lav P. Patel, Arianna Dagliati, Antoine Neuraz, Jeffrey G. Klann, Andrew M. South, Shyam Visweswaran, David A. Hanauer, Sarah E. Maidlow, Mei Liu, Danielle L. Mowery, Ashley Batugo, Adeline Makoudjou, Patric Tippmann, Daniela Zöller, Gabriel A. Brat, Yuan Luo, Paul Avillach, Riccardo Bellazzi, Luca Chiovato, Alberto Malovini, Valentina Tibollo, Malarkodi Jebathilagam Samayamuthu, Pablo Serrano Balazote, Zongqi Xia, Ne Hooi Will Loh, Lorenzo Chiudinelli, Clara-Lea Bonzel, Chuan Hong, Harrison G. Zhang, Griffin M. Weber, Isaac S. Kohane, Tianxi Cai, Gilbert S. Omenn, John H. Holmes, Kee Yuan Ngiam, James R. Aaron, Giuseppe Agapito, Adem Albayrak, Giuseppe Albi, M Alessiani, Anna Alloni, Danilo F. Amendola, François Angoulvant, Li L.L.J. Anthony, Bruce J. Aronow, Fatima Ashraf, Andrew M. Atz, Paul Avillach, Vidul Ayakulangara Panickan, Paula S. Azevedo, James Balshi, Ashley Batugo, Brett K. Beaulieu-Jones, Brendin R. Beaulieu‐Jones, Douglas S. Bell, Antonio Bellasi, Riccardo Bellazzi, Vincent Benoît, Michele Beraghi, José Luis Bernal-Sobrino, Mélodie Bernaux, Romain Bey, Surbhi Bhatnagar, Alvar Blanco-Martínez, Martin Boeker, Clara-Lea Bonzel, John Booth, Silvano Bosari, Florence T. Bourgeois, Robert L. Bradford, Gabriel A. Brat, Stéphane Bréant, Nicholas W. Brown, Raffaele Bruno, William Bryant, Mauro Bucalo, Emily M. Bucholz, Anita Burgun, Tianxi Cai, Mario Cannataro, Aldo Carmona, Anna Maria Cattelan, Charlotte Caucheteux, Julien Champ
Abstract
Background: While acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in COVID-19, data on post-AKI kidney function recovery and the clinical factors associated with poor kidney function recovery is lacking. Methods: A retrospective multi-centre observational cohort study comprising 12,891 hospitalized patients aged 18 years or older with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by polymerase chain reaction from 1 January 2020 to 10 September 2020, and with at least one serum creatinine value 1-365 days prior to admission. Mortality and serum creatinine values were obtained up to 10 September 2021. Findings: Advanced age (HR 2.77, 95%CI 2.53-3.04, p < 0.0001), severe COVID-19 (HR 2.91, 95%CI 2.03-4.17, p < 0.0001), severe AKI (KDIGO stage 3: HR 4.22, 95%CI 3.55-5.00, p < 0.0001), and ischemic heart disease (HR 1.26, 95%CI 1.14-1.39, p < 0.0001) were associated with worse mortality outcomes. AKI severity (KDIGO stage 3: HR 0.41, 95%CI 0.37-0.46, p < 0.0001) was associated with worse kidney function recovery, whereas remdesivir use (HR 1.34, 95%CI 1.17-1.54, p < 0.0001) was associated with better kidney function recovery. In a subset of patients without chronic kidney disease, advanced age (HR 1.38, 95%CI 1.20-1.58, p < 0.0001), male sex (HR 1.67, 95%CI 1.45-1.93, p < 0.0001), severe AKI (KDIGO stage 3: HR 11.68, 95%CI 9.80-13.91, p < 0.0001), and hypertension (HR 1.22, 95%CI 1.10-1.36, p = 0.0002) were associated with post-AKI kidney function impairment. Furthermore, patients with COVID-19-associated AKI had significant and persistent elevations of baseline serum creatinine 125% or more at 180 days (RR 1.49, 95%CI 1.32-1.67) and 365 days (RR 1.54, 95%CI 1.21-1.96) compared to COVID-19 patients with no AKI. Interpretation: COVID-19-associated AKI was associated with higher mortality, and severe COVID-19-associated AKI was associated with worse long-term post-AKI kidney function recovery. Funding: Authors are supported by various funders, with full details stated in the acknowledgement section.