Acute Renal Failure in COVID-19 Patients in Intensive Care at the CHU du Point G in Mali

Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2) causes an acute respiratory disease with interstitial and alveolar pneumonia, which can affect several organs including the kidneys [1] [2] [3]. As Mali is no stranger to this pandemic, we report our experience of the management of cases of kidney failure observed in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at the Point G University Hospital Centre (CHU). The aim of this work was to characterise acute renal failure in COVID-19 patients in intensive care, describing the management methods used and determining the vital prognosis. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study, covering an 18-month period from April 2020 to September 2021. We included all patients admitted to the COVID-19 intensive care unit on the basis of a positive RT-PCR and/or the presence of ground-glass images on thoracic computed tomography. Results: We selected 232 patients admitted for COVID-19. Acute Renal Failure (ARF) developed in 71 patients (30.6%). The stages of AKI according to KDIGO were Stage 1 in 28.2%, Stage 2 in 18.3% and Stage 3 in 53.5%. The mean age was 63.96 years, with a standard deviation of 16.6, and males accounted for the majority (71.8%). Organic ARF was found in 80.3% of cases. Risk factors and comorbidities for ARF included advanced age (60.6%), male sex (71.8%), hypertension (52.1%), diabetes (21.1%), invasive mechanical ventilation (71.8%) and septic shock (56.3%). Extra renal purification (haemodialysis) was used in 29.6% of patients. Admission to intensive care ranged from 7 days to 14 days in 43.7% of cases. More than half the patients (52.1%) were in critical condition on admission. Death occurred in 76.1% of patients. Conclusion: ARF appears to occur more frequently in patients with severe COVID-19. It is associated with a poor prognosis.