Haemodialysis Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and COVID-19: An Observational Study
Authors:   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania “Sfantul Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania, Vacaroiu Ileana A. , Feier Larisa F. ,   “Sfantul Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania, Georgescu Mihai T ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Discipline of Oncology, Department 8, Bucharest, Romania “Prof. Dr. Al. Trestioreanu” Institute of Oncology, Department of Radiotherapy, Bucharest, Romania, David Cristiana ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania “Sfantul Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania, Cuiban Elena ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania “Sfantul Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania, Balcangiu-Stroescu Andra E. ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Discipline of Physiology, Bucharest, Romania, Isac Sebastian ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department 1, Discipline of Physiology, Bucharest, Romania Fundeni Clinical Institute, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care l, Bucharest, Romania, Raducu Laura ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Bucharest, Romania “Prof. Dr. Agripa Ionescu” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Bucharest, Romania, Calinoiu Amalia L. ,   “Prof. Dr. Agripa Ionescu” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Internal Medicine Clinic, Bucharest, Romania, Radulescu Daniela ,   “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania “Sfantul Ioan” Clinical Emergency Hospital, Department of Nephrology, Bucharest, Romania
Published: August 2023

Background and Objectives: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) affects 6,7% of the adult population in Romania and is associated with high morbidity. About one out of three adults with diabetes has kidney disease. According to current literature data, the prevalence of diabetes is very high, up to 11,6%, of whom 2,4% had undiagnosed diabetes, and is the leading cause of kidney damage and the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). COVID-19 has brought with it a lot of unanswered questions, regarding the risk factors, the disease evolution, and the treatment possibilities. It became clear that diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is among the independent risk factors that predict unfavorable outcomes upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, so we aimed to evaluate the characteristics of diabetic and non-diabetic dialyzed patients, COVID-19 positive. Materials and Methods: It is an observational, single-center study that analyzed type 2 diabetes mellitus and non–diabetic patients in maintenance hemodialysis hospitalized for SARS CoV-2 infection. Results: A total of 101 adult dialyzed patients were admitted with a SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive test, out of which 42 had a long history of diabetes mellitus type 2 and 59 of them have been known with other etiologies of CKD. Hypertension and heart disease were the most commonly associated comorbidities. Inflammatory markers and anemia were significantly increased in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetic. Conclusions: We found that anemia was more severe in patients COVID-19-positive MHD T2DM patients.