Chronic kidney disease is the leading risk factor for hospitalisation from Covid-19, says a study of electronic health records.

For the study, the researchers examined the health records of 12,971 individuals who were tested for Covid-19 within the Geisinger Health System in the US.

Of this group, 1,604 were Covid-positive and 354 required hospitalisation.

The team analysed the records for association between specific clinical conditions, including kidney, cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic conditions, and Covid-19 hospitalisation.

"Previous studies have identified a variety of health conditions associated with an increased risk of COVID-related hospitalisation, including diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease," said Alex Chang, Geisinger nephrologist and co-director of Geisinger's Kidney Health Research Institute.

"What is significant here is the magnitude of the kidney disease-related risk."

How underlying medical conditions increase the risk of Covid-19-related complications is not yet fully clear.

However, the study suggests that the physiological stress caused by an excessive inflammatory response to Covid-19 infection could destabilise organs already weakened by chronic disease, or that organ injury from the virus could act as a "second-hit" to these organs.

"Consistent with this hypothesis, kidney and heart are among the tissues with the highest expression of ACE2, a SARS-CoV-2 receptor," the team wrote.

(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT)