• Gaston J Piñeiro, Alicia Molina-Andújar, Evelyn Hermida, Miquel Blasco, Luis F Quintana, Guido Muñoz Rojas, Jordi Mercadal, Pedro Castro, Elena Sandoval, Rut Andrea, Javier Fernández, Joan Ramon Badia, Alex Soriano, Esteban Poch, and Hospital Clínic Critical Care COVID-19 working group (CCCC).
• Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation Department, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona and REDinREN, Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain. gjpineir@clinic.cat.
• J. Nephrol. 2021 Apr 1; 34 (2): 285-293.

BackgroundAcute kidney injury (AKI) is frequent in Coronavirus Infection Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Factors associated with AKI in COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients and their outcomes have not been previously explored.MethodsProspective observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICUs of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona (Spain), from March 25th to April 21st, 2020, who developed AKI stage 2 or higher (AKIN classification). The primary goal was to describe the characteristics of moderate-severe AKI of COVID-19 patients in an ICU context. As a secondary goal, we aimed to find independent predictors of AKI progression, Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) requirement and mortality among these patients.ResultsDuring the study period, 52 out of 237 ICU patients, developed AKIN stage 2 or higher and were included in the study. A Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at AKI diagnosis of 8 or higher was associated with RRT, OR 5.2, p 0.032. At the time of AKI diagnosis, patients had a worse liver profile and higher inflammation markers than at admission. Fifty per cent of the patients presented AKI progression from AKIN 2 to 3 and 28.85% required RRT. The use of corticosteroids in 69.2% of patients was associated with a reduced requirement of RRT, OR 0.13 (CI 95% 0.02-0.89), p 0.037. AKI was associated with high mortality (50%) and a longer hospital stay, median 35 vs 18 days (p 0.024).ConclusionsThe prevalence of moderate/severe AKI in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU is high and has a strong correlation with mortality and length of hospital stay.

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