Acute Kidney Injury in COVID-19: Emerging Evidence of a Distinct Pathophysiology

The most common reported reasons for intensive care unit admission for patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are either hypoxemic respiratory failure leading to mechanical ventilation or hypotension requiring vasopressor support. Data on AKI are either lacking1 or only reporting incidence on the basis of case series and retrospective studies.2 In this Perspective, we emphasize that AKI can be a severe complication of COVID-19 and highlight the importance of assessing, defining, and reporting the course of AKI. Understandably relevant information that normally would be part of clinical descriptions and research publications has not been collected because of the magnitude and accelerated pace…

• NH
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

  Award: R01HL146818
• NI
  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

  Awards: R01DK104785, UC4DK108173, 1R01DK103043-01A1