Patients with end-stage kidney disease and COVID-19 are commonly hospitalized early during COVID-19 illness: an opportunity for early intervention

Abstract

AbstractAntiviral medications such as remdesivir, molnupiravir, and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir are most effective when used early in the course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These medications are mainly authorized for outpatient use in high risk populations. End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is among the strongest risk factors for mortality from COVID-19, however, therapeutic options have been lacking in this patient population given exclusion of ESKD in the registrational trials of antiviral therapy leading to limited FDA approval. In our retrospective study of patients with ESKD on dialysis admitted for symptomatic COVID-19 from March 2020 to January 2020, we found that majority of patients (>80%) were admitted to the hospital early during their disease course (within 5 days of symptom onset). Despite this pattern of early admission, there was a high risk of respiratory failure within 90 days since admission (30%) among this population. We argue that this unique pattern of early presentation and high risk of progression to respiratory failure of the ESKD patients suggests an opportunity for further research to determine if outpatient antiviral therapies should be expanded to patients with ESKD to address the huge unmet need of therapeutic intervention in this vulnerable population.