PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alkhunaizi, Ahmed M.
AU  - Elnabi, Hanaa Abd
AU  - Amir, Abdulrazack
AU  - Anwar, Amber
TI  - COVID-19 in patients with end stage kidney disease at a large community hospital in Eastern Saudi Arabia. <em>A prospective study</em>
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2022.43.6.20220003
DP  - 2022 Jun 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 633--636
VI  - 43
IP  - 6
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/6/633.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/43/6/633.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2022 Jun 01; 43
AB  - Objectives: To report the outcome of patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) who were diagnosed with COVID-19 at a large community hospital in Eastern Saudi Arabia.Methods: A single center, prospective observational study at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Patients with ESKD who were maintained on dialysis and developed COVID-19 between June 15, 2020 and October 31, 2021 were enrolled.Results: In total, 30 patients with ESKD were diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. Twenty two (73%) patients developed the disease prior to COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The median age of the cohort was 63 (55-75) years. Most patients were diabetic (73%), hypertensive (97%) and had a median body mass index of 28 kg/m2. Twenty seven (90%) patients required admission, 16 (52%) patients developed pneumonia, and 5 (17%) patients required mechanical ventilation. Patients who developed pneumonia were older, and the majority had diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. Five patients died with a total mortality of 17%.Conclusion: Patients with ESKD who developed COVID-19 had a poor outcome with high mortality compared to the general population. Presence of diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease and older age were associated with a higher risk of severe disease. There was a sharp decline in the number of positive cases following implementation of the vaccination program.