Clinical and Para-clinical Findings of COVID19 in Hemodialysis Patients Compared to Control Group: A Case-Control Study

Background: Following the global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in different communities, hemodialysis patients have not been spared by this viral infection. Objectives: This study evaluated the clinical symptoms laboratory and imaging findings in patients undergoing hemodialysis and compared these characteristics with the control group. Methods: The study was performed on 72 patients with positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test, of whom 36 cases had end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis and the remaining had no history of kidney diseases. After matching the two groups in terms of age, sex, and other underlying diseases, the clinical, laboratory, and chest computed tomography (CT) scan findings were compared between the case and control groups. Results: The mean age of dialysis patients was 42.52 ± 12.10 years and 48.58 ± 17.35 years in the control group. The study results revealed that hemodialysis patients had less fever, cough, and shortness of breath than the control group (P-value 0.05). Hemoglobin, lymphocyte, and platelet counts were significantly lower in hemodialysis patients in comparison to the control group (P-value 0.05). C-reactive protein was significantly higher in patients undergoing hemodialysis (P-value 0.05), and ground-glass opacification was observed more in patients undergoing hemodialysis compared to controls, but this difference was not statically significant (P 0.05). Conclusions: Hemodialysis patients had fewer initial clinical symptoms but more abnormalities in laboratory findings and ground-glass opacities on chest CT scans and a higher mortality rate.