Collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis secondary to COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The renal system manifestations of coronavirus disease-2019 have been documented extensively; however, scientific literature remains scarce regarding collapsing glomerulopathy hence the need for this investigation.

A comprehensive review was conducted covering a timeline from 1 January 2020 to 5 February 2022 without any restrictions. The data extraction was conducted independently, and articles were assessed for the risk of bias. Data analysis was conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3.3.070 and RevMan version 5.4 for pooled proportions and risk ratio (RR) between dialysis-dependent and independent treatment groups with a P-value less than 0.05 considered significant.

A total of 38 studies were included in this review, including 74 (65.9%) males. The mean age was 54.2 years old. The most common symptoms reported were related to the respiratory system (59.6%, 95% CI: 50.4-68.2%) and hematuria (34.2%, 95% CI: 26.1-43.4). Antibiotics (25.9%, 95% CI: 12.9-45.3%) was the commonest management used. Proteinuria was the most reported laboratory finding at 89.5% (95% CI: 82.4-93.9%), while the commonest microscopic finding was acute tubular injury (77.2%, 95% CI: 68.6-84.0%). An increased risk of the presence of symptoms (P=0.005) and microscopic findings (P=0.0003) related to collapsing glomerulopathy in dialysis-dependent group was noted with increased management (P=0.01) used in this group for coronavirus disease-2019 infection.

The findings of this study portray the prognostic value of the variables (symptoms and microscopic findings, etc.) reported in the analysis. Hence this study serves as a foundation for future investigations that minimize the study's limitations to provide a more robust conclusion.