MO870HYPOCHLOREMIA IS ASSOCIATED WITH A GREATER INCIDENCE OF PNEUMONIA IN CHRONIC HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: A CENTER'S EXPERIENCE. (29th May 2021) - Valga, Francisco
Abstract: Background and Aims: Recently, serum chloride has gained greater importance in the assessment of patients with heart failure and sepsis. Hypochloremia has been associated with higher mortality. On the other hand, COVID-19 pandemic continues to be, to date, a threat to public health. Patients with cardiovascular comorbidity or chronic kidney disease are particularly vulnerable. There are some studies that show a trend towards a lower serum chloride concentration in patients with a positive PCR test for SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the objective of our study was to determine if there is a relationship between serum chloride levels at the time of diagnosis and a greater tendency to develop COVID-19 pneumonia in chronic hemodialysis patients. Method: Retrospective cohort study. We analyzed the serum chloride, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, neutrophil-lymphocyte (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte (PLR) ratios of 11 chronic hemodialysis patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 TMA PCR test during the second wave of the pandemic in our hospital (August-December 2020). We collected the length of hospital stay, the diagnosis of pneumonia (yes/no) and the final state of the infection (cure or death). The patients were divided into two groups taking the median serum chloride as the cut-off point (1: <97 mEq / L and 2:> 97mEq / L) Results: The mean age was 57 ± 13 years and 36.36% (N = 4) were women. All patients required hospital admission and mean hospitalization time was 19 ± 13 days. 3 patients (27.3%) died. The medians of the parameters were the following: serum chloride 97 mEq / L (IQR 94-99); CRP 29.04 mg / L (IQR 8.53-76.13); NLR 4.13 (IQR 2.67-8.48) and PLR 244.06 (IQR 208.08-320). 81.8% (N = 9) had COVID-19 pneumonia. Group 1 patients (Chloride <97 mEL / L) had a higher incidence of pneumonia (p = 0.049) ( Figure 1 ) and a greater tendency to be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (p = 0.029). Despite not reaching statistical significance, there was also a higher mortality in patients with lower chloride levels. Conclusion: Chronic hemodialysis patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and lower serum chloride levels at hospital admission were more likely to develop pneumonia.