Incidence of COVID-19 Infection in Hemodialysis Patients and Predictors of Disease Complications and Mortality in Assiut University Hospital Hemodialysis Unit: A Cross-Sectional Study

A report of hospitalized COVID-19 patients from Wuhan, China, showed that hemodialysis patients had worse outcomes compared to controls without kidney failure. In addition, the hemodialysis COVID-19 patients developed serious complications such as shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), arrhythmias, and acute cardiac injury at a higher rate. In a population of hospitalized dialysis patients in New York City, there was a 31% mortality rate and 75% of those who required mechanical ventilation died.

These complications are due to some of their underlying comorbidities and difficulties of keeping adequate social distancing as recommended by CDC guidelines.

We aim to identify all hemodialysis patients who will be admitted from October 1, 2021 to Septemper 30, 2022. Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or highly suspected (CORAD 4-5) according to radiological finding, will be selected and followed until discharge from hospital to determine who will develop complications and who will need ventilatory support. Also, the rate of death will be monitored. Therefore, the current study is aiming to better understand the hemodialysis patients' characteristics profile that makes them susceptible for complications and death.