Background There is little information about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children with underlying chronic renal pathologies. Cases report From March until April 15, 2020, 16 children with chronic renal pathologies were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Spain. Of these, 6 had end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) (3 transplant recipients and 3 on chronic hemodialysis). The severity of symptoms was mild in all the patients, with little radiological involvement. Three patients were asymptomatic. Fever and upper respiratory symptoms were the most frequent findings. Basal glomerular filtration worsened in 3 patients; however, recovery was rapidly achieved with rehydration and drug dose adjustment. In 2 patients diagnosed with steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome, COVID-19 provoked a disease relapse. None required oxygen therapy, and 7 could be managed as outpatients. Conclusions COVID-19 disease appears to have a similar clinical course in children with underlying chronic renal pathologies, even in immunosuppressed cases, as in healthy children of the same age; however, special attention must be paid to fluid management and drug dose adjustment.
Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is an important complication associated with several diseases that are rare and life-threatening. TMA is common to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). TTP is defined by a severe deficiency of ADAMTS13, and early treatment is associated with good prognosis. The diagnosis of HUS can be difficult due to the potential multiple etiologies, and the best treatment option in most cases is not well-established yet. The implementation of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) could decrease the time to diagnosis and treatment for HUS and may improve the outcomes of these patients. To determine the impact of MDT on morbidity and mortality [death or chronic renal replacement therapy (CRRT) requirements], incidence and response time [(RT) defined as the period between hospital admission and the first day of direct therapy administration], length of stay at an intensive care unit (ICU-LOS) and total hospitalization (T-LOS) were also assessed. We compared a pre-MDT implementation period (from January/2008 to May/2016) versus post-MDT period (from May/2016 to December/2016). The screening TMA diagnosis was made according the following criteria: hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute renal damage and without ADAMTS13 deficiency. An online chat was implemented to provide instant medical information. Twenty-eight patients were included. The incidence changed from 2.3 cases/pre-MDT: (all cases: n = 18) to 10 cases/year post-MDT (all cases: n = 10). Two patients died in pre-MDT and post- MDT (11% versus 20%, P = 0.60). From pre-MDT, the number of patients who required CRRT by post-MDT decreased from 7 (39%) to 0, P = 0.03. Similarly, RT, ICU-LOS and T-LOS [median(p25-p75)] decreased from 10 (2–12) days to 0.5 (0–1.5) days, P = 0.04, from 16 (9–30) days to 10 (4–13) days, P = 0.01 and from 33 (22–53) days to 16 (12–32) days, P < 0.01, respectively. MDT implementation was associated with a greater number of patients who meet TMA criteria. A decrease in the RT and T-LOS periods were observed and associated with better outcomes in these patients.