Factors related to mortality in hemodialysis patients with COVID-19

Introduction: The mortality rate in COVID-19 patients is about 2%, however advanced age, male gender, comorbid diseases increase the risk of mortality. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and hemodialysis (HD) treatment are more susceptible to infection due to both existing comorbid diseases and immune suppression caused by uremia. Objectives: This study aims to show the potential of easily obtainable, inexpensive and reproducible markers in predicting mortality in HD patients at the time of diagnosis. Patients and Methods: In this study, we examined the relationship between; neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), mean platelet volume (MPV) and C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin values at the time of hospital admission with mortality in 75 HD patients diagnosed with COVID-19. All analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 and MS-Excel 2010 software. Results: A total of 75 HD patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were included in the study. Out of these, at least 19 (25.3%) patients received hydroxychloroquine, 68 (90.6%) patients favipiravir, two (2.6%) patients tocilizumab and two patients (2.6%) immune plasma therapy. Among these patients, sixteen patients (21.3%) needed invasive mechanic ventilation, eight patients (10.6%) needed high flow oxygen and seven patients (9.3%) needed non-invasive mechanic ventilation and 17 of 75 patients (23%) died. A total of 14 of the 17 non-survivors were intubated. In comparison between survivors and non-survivors in our study; NLR, MPV, CRP, CRP/albumin and phosphorus values were significantly higher in the non-survivors group. Conclusion: According to this study, NLR, MPV and CRP/albumin values are associated with mortality in HD patients affected with COVID-19.