Abstract
Introduction: It is challenging to choose appropriate therapy for COVID-19 patients with impaired renal functions due to insufficient & contradictory data about their safety in CKD patients.
Methods: Study aimed to report renal and hepatic dysfunction associated with medications, also to compare drug adverse events between CKD and Non-CKD patients & to identify safety profile of these medications in CKD patients.
Results: Favipiravir, lopinavir-ritonavir, remdesivir & Tocilizumab were used in 75.15%, 15.29% and 13.19% & 25.89% patients respectively. Incidence of renal function deterioration was 18.24%, while an increase in ALT and AST was noted in 34.24% and 23.78%. Patients with GFR <60 ml/min were 15.57% and 74-patients were on hemodialysis. In CKD population, 86.93%, 28.37%, 8.10% and 22.07% were treated with Favipiravir, lopinavir-ritonavir, remdesivir, and Tocilizumab respectively. 37.83%of patients had acute on CKD, while 35.13% and 31.98% had increase in ALT and AST. Incidence of acute renal function deterioration and increase in AST were significantly higher in CKD population. Favipiravir treated CKD patients has significant deterioration of renal functions (p=<0.05), while an elevation in ALT and AST was not significant in the two groups, where as renal & liver injury associated with other medications were not significant between two groups.
Conclusion: We observed significantly higher incidence of kidney injury and elevation in AST in CKD patients. Nevertheless, these abnormal lab parameters must be considered with other risk factors, associated with severe covid-19-infection, thus COVID medicine should not be denied to CKD patients.