Treatment pattern and clinical outcomes of remdesivir in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with severe chronic kidney disease: a database analysis of acute care hospitals in Japan.

BACKGROUND: There is limited evidence on clinical outcomes and treatment pattern in Japanese patients with severe chronic kidney disease (CKD), hospitalized for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to describe patient characteristics, treatment pattern, and clinical outcomes in Japanese patients with severe CKD, hospitalized for COVID-19 who received remdesivir (RDV).

METHODS: We used the anonymized claims database from Medical Data Vision Co., Ltd., Japan. The analysis included patients aged ≥ 18 years with severe CKD, hospitalized for moderate to severe COVID-19, and administered ≥ 1 dose of RDV between October 2021 and September 2023. All-cause inpatient mortality, disease progression, and recovery up to 56 days from hospitalization were evaluated.

RESULTS: Data of 847 patients were analyzed (mean age 73.0 ± 14.1 years). Median (Q1-Q3) time to RDV initiation was 1.0 day (1.0-2.0) from hospitalization and treatment duration was 5.0 days (3.0-5.0). At RDV initiation, 44.27% patients required non-invasive positive pressure ventilation/high or low flow oxygen; 4.25% required invasive mechanical ventilation/extracorporeal membrane oxygenation/intensive care unit hospitalization. Proportion of patients with all-cause mortality was 11.45% (stage 4, 14.89%; stage 5, 10.47%) by 28 days and 12.28% (stage 4, 16.49%; stage 5, 11.08%) by 56 days. At 28 days, 12.28% had disease progression and 72.14% recovered.

CONCLUSION: Most patients with severe CKD received RDV immediately after hospitalization. The majority of patients recovered by 28 days. The study provided insights into RDV treatment in inpatient settings, which could contribute to the discussion on standard of care in this population in Japan.