Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Jun 25, 2025; 14(2): 100986
Published online Jun 25, 2025. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v14.i2.100986
Examining rhabdomyolysis-related acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and its comparison to other acute kidney injury types
Liyan Ajit D Souza, Abdulqadir J Nashwan
Liyan Ajit D Souza, Research Intern, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar
Abdulqadir J Nashwan, Nursing & Midwifery Research Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar
Author contributions: D Souza LA and Nashwan AJ wrote the draft and critically reviewed the literature; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Abdulqadir J Nashwan, PhD, Nursing & Midwifery Research Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Rayyan Road, Doha 3050, Qatar. anashwan@hamad.qa
Received: September 1, 2024
Revised: December 4, 2024
Accepted: December 27, 2024
Published online: June 25, 2025
Processing time: 295 Days and 1.8 Hours
Abstract

Rhabdomyolysis (RM) is characterized by disrupting muscle cells and releasing intracellular components into circulation. Some symptoms associated with RM include muscle weakness, discolored urine, and myalgia. RM can be caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causing exaggerated immune response leading to muscle damage. Acute kidney injury (AKI), when presented with RM, leads to increased mortality. Examining RM-related AKI and its comparison to other AKI types in COVID-19 patients could improve the management of viral infections developing RM and AKI. RM potentially complicated COVID-19 infection course and is a major etiology of AKI. RM-related AKI had higher severity and mortality than other AKI types, with increased hypercoagulopathy and inflammatory markers. Findings also express procalcitonin use in follow-ups with severe COVID-19 patients. Study limitations include small sample size, absence of kidney biopsies, and focus on the first wave of the pandemic, which should be addressed in future research to generate accurate and relevant findings.

Keywords: Rhabdomyolysis; Acute kidney injury; Rhabdomyolysis-associated acute kidney injury; COVID-19; Creatine kinase; Procalcitonin; Rhabdomyolysis treatment

Core Tip: The study explored differences between rhabdomyolysis (RM)-related acute kidney injury (AKI) and other AKI types in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. RM patients had high inflammation, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and ferritin. The prognosis of RM-related AKI was considered worse in comparison to developing AKI from other causes in COVID-19 patients. RM is a risk factor for AKI in COVID-19 patients. Hence, follow-ups are essential to monitor RM development. Study limitations include small sample size, absence of kidney biopsies, and focus on the 1st wave of the pandemic. Addressing these limitations leads to accurate result generation, potentially improving viral infection management for RM and AKI development.