Clinical characteristics and outcome of hemodialysis patients with COVID-19: a large cohort study in a single Chinese center

Background: Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly, which poses great challenges to patients on maintenance hemodialysis. Here we report the clinical features of 66 hemodialysis patients with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection. Design, setting, participants, and measurements: Retrospective, single-center case series of the 66 hemodialysis patients with confirmed COVID-19 from 1 January to 5 March 2020; the final date of follow-up was 25 March 2020. Results: The clinical data were collected from 66 hemodialysis patients with confirmed COVID-19. The incidence of COVID-19 in our center was 11.0% (66/602), of which 18 patients died. According to different prognosis, hemodialysis patients with COVID-19 were divided into the survival and death group. A higher incidence of fever and dyspnea was found in the death group compared with the survival group. Meanwhile, patients in the death group were often accompanied by higher white blood cell count, prolonged PT time, increased D-dimer (p< .05). More patients in the death group showed hepatocytes and cardiomyocytes damage. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis suggested that fever, dyspnea, and elevated D-dimer were independent risk factors for death in hemodialysis patients with COVID-19 (OR, 1.077; 95% CI, 1.014 to 1.439; p= .044; OR, 1.146; 95% CI, 1.026 to 1.875; p= .034, OR, 4.974; 95% CI, 3.315 to 6.263; p= .007, respectively). Conclusions: The potential risk factors of fever, dyspnea, and elevated D-dimer could help clinicians to identify hemodialysis patients with poor prognosis at an early stage of COVID-19 infection.