The use of therapeutic plasma exchange in the severe forms of COVID-19 in patients with renal fаilure

Cytokine release syndrome plays a key role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) by removing pathogenic cytokines, can favorably influence the course of severe forms of this disease. However, conclusive studies on this issue are still lacking. Only descriptions of individual clinical cases or small cohort studies have been published. There are no data on the use of TPE in patients with renal failure in the literature. The study aims to evaluate the effect of TPE in the severe forms of COVID-19 in patients with advanced renal failure. Material and Methods: a retrospective, uncontrolled, observational study enrolled 211 patients aged 60,4±13,2. 90.5% of them received renal replacement therapy: 66.8% – hemodialysis, 9.5% – peritoneal dialysis, 14.2% renal transplant recipients with moderate to severe dysfunction, and 9.5% had acute kidney injury on chronic kidney disease that did not require dialysis treatment. Results. All patients were divided into 2 groups: 124 (58.8%) patients (treated from 01.07. to 15.12.2020), who received TPE (TPE group), and 87 (41.2%) patients (observed from 01.04. to 30.06.2020), who did not treat with TPE (control group). The condition of patients in both groups at admission was approximately comparable. The clinical picture of the disease was dominated by severe pneumonia. There were no significant differences in inflammatory markers: both groups had no significant differences in levels of CRP, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, or D-dimer. The groups also did not differ significantly in lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, and azotemia. The mortality rate in the group of patients who did not receive TPE was 73.5%, while in the TPE group it was 45.16% (p<0.001). Among patients on chronic dialysis, the mortality rate in the control subgroup was 74.6%, and in the TPE subgroup – 44.15% (p<0.001). Conclusion:therapeutic plasma exchange is an efficient approach to the treatment of severe forms of COVID-19 in patients with advanced renal failure. Its effect, however, may be limited by the risk of death due to uremia. © 2022 JSC Vidal Rus. All rights reserved.