Severe COVID raises kidney complication risk: study

People who suffered a severe case of COVID-19 are at a higher risk of dying from acute kidney injury, a new study by Lawson Health Research Institute scientists suggests.

The condition, also known as acute renal failure, occurs when a patient's kidneys are no longer able to filter waste products from their blood, affecting its chemical composition.

About 10 per cent of people who ended up in intensive care due to COVID developed the kidney condition. Of those, 64 per cent died within 90 days, according to the study, published in the Clinical Kidney Journal.

“The mortality rate was shockingly high,” said Dr. Peter Blake, a Lawson researcher and provincial medical director at the Ontario Renal Network, in a release.

“Many ... who survived remained in hospital for a long period ... and the one in five that did survive have remained on long-term dialysis.”

Many patients who developed acute renal failure had no kidney disease or issues before contracting COVID-19, the study said.

The study analyzed data collected through the Ontario Renal Network, including from 271 patients at 27 Ontario renal programs who received acute dialysis after contracting the virus.

The study also shows men at higher risk than women of developing the COVID complication, making up more than 75 per cent of cases.

Half of acute kidney injury patients were also diabetic and most were middle-aged, the study said. Patients living in postal codes with high immigrant populations also were more likely to develop the condition.

Lawson researchers said they will now focus patients who survived the kidney condition and track any long-term complications stemming from the virus.