World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

ACUTE KIDNEY INJURY IN CHILDREN WITH COVID-19

Maryam Mohammadian and Kambiz Ghasemi*

ABSTRACT

Background: Renal dysfunction in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can result from the direct invasion of renal tissue by the virus or the cytokine storm caused by the disease. We aimed to evaluate renal involvement in the form of acute kidney injury (AKI) in children with COVID-19 admitted to Bandar Abbas Children’s Hospital. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study retrospectively evaluated 135 children with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to Bandar Abbas Children’s Hospital, in 2020-2021. Patients’ information including age, gender, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, white blood cell (WBC) count, platelet count, hemoglobin concentration, C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine were extracted from their medical files. Also, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), hospital length of stay, death, dialysis, edema, and comorbidities were recorded. AKI was diagnosed based on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. Results: The mean age of the participants was 53.29 ± 47.57 months, of whom 68 (50.4%) were male. AKI was found in 9 patients (6.7%). Edema/proteinuria was observed in 3% and oliguria/hematuria in 4.4%. 1Also, 36.3% of the patients had comorbidities, 14.8% were admitted to ICU and 2 patients (1.5%) died. There was no statistically significant difference between children with and without AKI regarding age, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, CRP, ESR, WBC and platelet count, hemoglobin, and hospital length of stay (P>0.05), while mean BUN and creatinine levels were significantly higher in the AKI group (P=0.032 and P<0.001, respectively). On the other hand, although comorbidities, ICU admission, and edema/proteinuria were higher in patients with AKI, the differences between groups regarding gender, comorbidities, ICU admission, edema/proteinuria, oliguria/hematuria, glucosuria, and death were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusions: Overall, 6.7% of children with confirmed COVID-19 had AKI. Baseline creatinine and BUN levels were significantly higher in children with AKI compared to those without AKI; however, there was no correlation between AKI and other factors.

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