Prevalence of renal involvement among pediatric patients hospitalized due to coronavirus disease 2019: A multicenter study.

Introduction: Renal involvement among pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ranges between 1.2% and 44%. Given the limited information available locally, the primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of renal involvement in our setting.

Population And Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in 13 Argentine sites between March and December 2020. Patients aged 1 month to 18 years hospitalized due to COVID-19 and with at least one measurement of serum creatinine and/or a urinalysis were included. Those with a known kidney disease were excluded. Renal involvement was defined as the presence of acute kidney injury (AKI), proteinuria, hematuria, leukocyturia and/or arterial hypertension (HTN).

Results: Among 528 eligible medical records, 423 patients were included (55.0% were males; median age: 5.3 years). The clinical presentation was asymptomatic in 31%; mild, in 39.7%; moderate, in 23.9%; severe, in 1.2%; critical, in 0.7%; and 3.5% had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Two patients (0.47%) died. The prevalence of renal involvement was 10.8% (95% confidence interval: 8.2-14.2); it was described as leukocyturia (16.9%), proteinuria (16.0%), hematuria (13.2%), HTN (3.7%), and AKI (2.3%). No patient required dialysis. Renal involvement was associated with severe forms of disease (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The prevalence of renal involvement among pediatric patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 in 13 Argentine sites was 10.8%; severe forms of disease prevailed.