Influence of Baseline Kidney Function on Patient and Kidney Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19: A Multi-National...

Background/Objectives: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), but the impact of baseline kidney function and care processes on outcomes is not well understood. We hypothesized that baseline kidney health status may influence courses and outcomes of AKI. Methods: This is a multinational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study. We included hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients with kidney disease (AKI, end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), or kidney transplant (KT) recipients) from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2022, across 52 centers in 23 countries. Patients with no prior kidney function information were classified as acute kidney disease (AKD) if estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at admission was <60 mL/min/1.73 m² and as no known kidney disease (NKD) if eGFR was ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m². We defined combined outcome as death or non-kidney recovery at hospital discharge. Multivariable binary regression models were applied. Results: Among 4158 patients, 882 had ESKD, and 3038 developed AKI. AKI patients were categorized as NKD (31.8%), AKD (38.6%), CKD (23.3%), and KT recipients (3.3%). NKD patients had higher AKI severity and more intensive care unit care needs. In the multivariable analyses, the risk of the combined outcome was higher in AKD (OR 1.459 [1.061, 2.005]) or CKD (OR 1.705 [1.206, 2.410]) patients, although the risk of in-hospital mortality was similar to NKD. Among the survivors at hospital discharge, the risk of partial or non-recovery was higher in CKD (OR 5.445 [3.864, 7.672]) or KT recipients (OR 4.208 [2.383, 7.429]) compared to NKD. These findings were consistent across income categories. Conclusions: Among AKI patients with COVID-19, nearly two-thirds had underlying kidney dysfunction, with 55% identified as having baseline AKD, which had higher risk of death or non-kidney recovery at discharge compared to NKD.