Clinical presentation and outcomes of chronic kidney disease patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital of Northern India during the third wave of the pandemic: A retrospective study

INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients have impaired immune status; that’s why these patients are prone to develop infection-related complications. The current study compares non-haemodialysis chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (NO-HD-CKD and ESRD, respectively) patient outcomes, the data of which is sparse. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection through reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were retrospectively studied using electronic health records. Patients were divided into three categories: non-chronic kidney disease (NO-CKD), NO-HD-CKD, and ESRD, and the outcome was assessed. RESULTS: Out of 745 patients, 92 (12.34%) had NO-HD-CKD and 31 (4.16%) had ESRD. CKD patients who were not on haemodialysis had higher rates of comorbidities and D-dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP) values compared to ESRD patients. The overall unadjusted mortality rate was found to be 17.44%, and it was 10.45% in case of NO-CKD patients, 58.69% for NO-HD-CKD patients, and 48.39% for ESRD patients. It was observed that patients having NO-HD-CKD had greater odds ratio of overall expiry in comparison to those without CKD in univariate analysis (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.31–1.91). It was not significant in fully adjusted models (OR: 1.11; 95% CI: 0.88–1.40). CONCLUSIONS: During the third wave of COVID-19, we found higher mortality rates for cases with NO-HD-CKD and, to a lower extent, ESRD. However, patients with ESRD were observed to have good outcomes in comparison to those with NO-HD-CKD. Primary care physicians are the first point of contact for patients. Hence, it is critical for them to manage and to do proper referral of comorbid patients to higher centres.