Revista de Investigación Clínica (Apr 2023)

Importance of confirmatory tests for Sars-Cov-2 infection in hemodialysis patients: a multicenter mexican registry

  • Olynka Vega-Vega,
  • Noemí Del Toro-Cisneros,
  • Víctor M. Sacoto-Romo,
  • Juan M. Ardavín-Ituarte,
  • Alicia Piñeirúa-Menéndez,
  • José C. Peña-Rodríguez,
  • Jesús M. Ramos-Gordillo,
  • Giovanna Y. Arteaga-Müller,
  • Héctor J. Mayorga-Madrigal,
  • Ricardo Mendiola-Fernández,
  • Néstor H. Cruz Mendoza,
  • Mauricio Arvizu-Hernández,
  • Ricardo Correa-Rotter

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24875/RIC.23000002
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 75, no. 2

Abstract

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Background: Since the beginning of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, patients with chronic kidney disease vulnerable to suffering more severe COVID-19 disease and worse outcomes have been identified. Objectives: Our study’s aim was to determine the incidence, characteristics, and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients of hemodialysis (HD) units in Mexico and to describe the availability of confirmatory testing. Methods: This study was multicentric study of 19 HD units, conducted between March 2020 and March 2021. Results: From a total of 5779 patients, 955 (16.5%) cases of suspicious COVID-19 were detected; a SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test was done in only 50.6% of patients. Forty-five percentages were hospitalized and 6% required invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). There was no significant difference in mortality between confirmed (131/483) and suspicious (124/472) cases (p = 0.74). The percentage of patients in need of hospitalization, IMV, and deceased was greater than in the rest of the study population. Conclusions: The study revealed that 49.4% of the cases were not confirmed, a worrisome observation given that this is a highly vulnerable population (higher probability of contagion and worse outcomes), in which 100% of patients should have a confirmatory test.

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