Chronic Hemodialysis Patients have better outcomes with COVID-19 - a retrospective cohort study

Introduction Several comorbid conditions, have been identified as risk factors in patients with COVID-19. However, there is a dearth of data describing the impact of COVID-19 infection in patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis (ESRD-HD). Methods This retrospective case series analyzed 362 adult patients consecutively hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 illness between March 12, 2020 and May 13, 2020, at a teaching hospital in the New York City metropolitan area. Primary outcome was severe pneumonia as defined by the World Health Organization. Secondary outcomes were: 1) the Combined Outcome of Acute respiratory distress syndrome or in-hospital Death (COAD), and 2) the need for High-levels of Oxygen supplementation (HiO2). Results Patients with ESRD-HD had lower odds for poor outcomes including severe pneumonia [Odds Ratio (OR) 0.4, Confidence Interval (CI) (0.2–0.9) p=.04], HiO2 [OR 0.3, CI (0.1– 0.8) p=.02] and COAD [OR 0.4, CI (0.2–1.05) p=.06], when compared to patients without ESRD. In contrast, higher odds for severe pneumonia, COAD and HiO2 were seen with advancing age. African-Americans were over-represented in the hospitalized patient cohort, when compared to their representation in the community (35% vs 18%). Hispanics had higher odds for severe-illness and HiO2 when compared to Caucasians. Conclusions Patients with ESRD-HD had a milder course of illness with a lower likelihood of severe pneumonia and a lesser need for aggressive oxygen supplementation when compared to patients not on chronic dialysis. This “protective effect” might have a pathophysiologic basis and needs to be further explored.