Paxlovid for hospitalized COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 causes significant mortality during the recent pandemic. Data regarding the effectiveness of Paxlovid on COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD, eGFR <90 ml/min) are limited. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on the clinical data of the hospitalized adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection collected at Renji Hospital from April 7, 2022 to June 21, 2022. The association of Paxlovid treatment with early (within 5 days post diagnosis) or late (5 days or later post diagnosis) initiation time with clinical outcomes was assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression model with time-dependent covariates. RESULT: 1279 of 2387 enrollees were included in the study. Patients with early initiation of Paxlovid had a lower all-cause death rate compared to those with late initiation or without Paxlovid treatment (P = 0.046). For the CKD patients with Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) > 7, the early initiation of Paxlovid was associated with a lower all-cause death rate compared to the later initiation or the lack of Paxlovid treatment (P = 0.041). Cox regression analyses revealed that eGFR (HR 4.21 [95%, CI 1.62–10.99]), Paxlovid treatment (0.32 [0.13–0.77]), CCI (4.32 [1.64–11.40]), ICU admission (2.65 [1.09–6.49]), hsCRP (3.88 [1.46–7.80]), chronic liver disease (4.02 [1.09–14.85]) were the independent risk factors for all-cause death for CKD patients after adjusting for demographics and biochemical indexes. CONCLUSIONS: All-cause death, invasive ventilation, and ICU admission were all significantly lowered by an early initiation of Paxlovid treatment in COVID-19 patients with severe CKD.