Dr. Peter Birks and Dr. Mohammud Atiquzzman present their talk, “BC projects related to kidney disease and COVID-19,” as part of BC Renal’s province-wide rounds.
0:05:00 – Background
Dr. Birks starts by providing an overview of COVID-19 and kidney disease, and vaccination rates in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients in BC. He talks about several ways in which COVID-19 can cause issues in the kidneys.
0:09:00 – Vaccine Effectiveness in Kidney Patients
Dr. Atiquzzman highlights a study to understand vaccine effectiveness in non-dialysis kidney patients in BC, which was published in Kidney International in September 2022. The study shows that each additional dose of vaccine results in increased protection against COVID-19 infection, as well as severe outcomes (hospitalization or death).
0:16:00 – BC vs Ontario Outcomes
Next, Dr. Atiquzzman highlights a study to compare vaccine effectiveness across cohorts in BC compared to Ontario in maintenance dialysis patients. Vaccine effectiveness was found to be greater in the BC cohort compared to the Ontario cohort, although this difference was not statistically significant. He notes another study found that more time between doses is associated with better vaccine effectiveness, which could explain the differences between BC and Ontario cohorts.
0:24:00 – Long COVID & Kidneys
Dr. Birks then talks about his study to assess long-term effects of COVID-19 infection on the kidneys. Patients with prior experience with dialysis or transplant were excluded. The results show that people with long COVID had a substantial decline in eGFR one year after the infection date. eGFR decline was highest in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 followed by patients with diabetes. About 60 % of patients were low risk initially, but 40% were at increased risk of CKD after COVID. Based on these results, Dr. Birks emphasizes that long-term monitoring of kidney function is prudent among patients with persistent COVID-19 symptoms.
0:34:00 - COVID and Kidney Disease Progression
Dr. Atiquzzman highlights results from an observational study of COVID and disease progression in non-dialysis kidney patients. COVID exposure was associated with a slightly higher risk of kidney failure in the first three months after infection. There was no difference in eGFR trajectory over time between cases vs controls.
0:42:00 – Kidney Failure Risk and Cardiovascular Access
Dr. Atiquzzman notes that, in CKD patients reaching ESKD, predicting the time of creating vascular access (VA) is difficult, and highlights results from a study showing how the Kidney Failure Risk Equation (KFRE) could be used to better time VA start dates.
0:51:00 – Q&A
Dr. Atiq and Dr. Birks take questions from the audience.
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