Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients With Acute Kidney Injury Have Reduced Renal Blood Flow and Perfusion Despite Preserved Cardiac Function: A Case-Control Study Using Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

TY - JOUR

T1 - Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients With Acute Kidney Injury Have Reduced Renal Blood Flow and Perfusion Despite Preserved Cardiac Function

T2 - A Case-Control Study Using Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

AU - Watchorn, James

AU - Huang, Dean Y.

AU - Joslin, Jennifer

AU - Bramham, Kate

AU - Hutchings, Sam D.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2020 by the Shock Society. Copyright: This record is sourced from MEDLINE/PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

PY - 2021/4/1

Y1 - 2021/4/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of COVID-19 critical illness but the pathophysiology is uncertain. Some evidence has indicated that a vascular aetiology may be implicated. We used contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and echocardiography to study renal perfusion and global blood flow and compared our findings with measurements taken in a group of septic shock patients and healthy volunteers. METHODS: Prospective case-control study. Renal perfusion variables were assessed with CEUS; macrovascular blood flow was assessed using Doppler analysis of large renal vessels; echocardiography was used to assess right and left heart function and cardiac output. RESULTS: CEUS-derived parameters were reduced in COVID-19 associated AKI compared with healthy controls (perfusion index 3,415 vs. 548 a.u., P = 0·001; renal blood volume 7,794 vs. 3,338 a.u., P = 0·04). Renal arterial flow quantified using time averaged peak velocity was also reduced compared with healthy controls (36·6 cm/s vs. 20·9 cm/s, P = 0.004) despite cardiac index being similar between groups (2.8 L/min/m2 vs. 3.7 L/min/m2, P = 0.07). There were no differences in CEUS-derived or cardiac parameters between COVID-19 and septic shock patients but patients with septic shock had more heterogeneous perfusion variables. CONCLUSION: Both large and small vessel blood flow is reduced in patients with COVID-19 associated AKI compared with healthy controls, which does not appear to be a consequence of right or left heart dysfunction. A reno-vascular pathogenesis of COVID-19 AKI seems likely.

AB - BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of COVID-19 critical illness but the pathophysiology is uncertain. Some evidence has indicated that a vascular aetiology may be implicated. We used contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and echocardiography to study renal perfusion and global blood flow and compared our findings with measurements taken in a group of septic shock patients and healthy volunteers. METHODS: Prospective case-control study. Renal perfusion variables were assessed with CEUS; macrovascular blood flow was assessed using Doppler analysis of large renal vessels; echocardiography was used to assess right and left heart function and cardiac output. RESULTS: CEUS-derived parameters were reduced in COVID-19 associated AKI compared with healthy controls (perfusion index 3,415 vs. 548 a.u., P = 0·001; renal blood volume 7,794 vs. 3,338 a.u., P = 0·04). Renal arterial flow quantified using time averaged peak velocity was also reduced compared with healthy controls (36·6 cm/s vs. 20·9 cm/s, P = 0.004) despite cardiac index being similar between groups (2.8 L/min/m2 vs. 3.7 L/min/m2, P = 0.07). There were no differences in CEUS-derived or cardiac parameters between COVID-19 and septic shock patients but patients with septic shock had more heterogeneous perfusion variables. CONCLUSION: Both large and small vessel blood flow is reduced in patients with COVID-19 associated AKI compared with healthy controls, which does not appear to be a consequence of right or left heart dysfunction. A reno-vascular pathogenesis of COVID-19 AKI seems likely.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85100590716

U2 - 10.1097/SHK.0000000000001659

DO - 10.1097/SHK.0000000000001659

M3 - Article

C2 - 32890313

AN - SCOPUS:85100590716

SN - 1540-0514

VL - 55

SP - 479

EP - 487

JO - Shock (Augusta, Ga.)

JF - Shock (Augusta, Ga.)

IS - 4

ER -