A patient with dialysis-dependent acute kidney injury due to hantavirus complicated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

ABSTRACT

In this case, we report a 64-year-old man presenting with anorexia, nausea and vomiting, mild abdominal pain, and oligoanuria for a few hours. His previous medical history included diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3. Upon arrival, laboratory results revealed stage III acute kidney injury (AKI) with hyperkalemia requiring dialysis treatment. During hospitalization, both pre-renal and post-renal causes of AKI were excluded, and a careful diagnostic evaluation, including kidney biopsy and serology testing, revealed acute interstitial nephritis and positive IgM for hantavirus. The patient was started on steroid treatment, which led to complete recovery of kidney function over 3 months. Moreover, during his hospitalization, the patient was also diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection, possibly due to intra-hospital transmission and was hospitalized at the COVID-19 Department for 14 days, eventually with no further complications. Hantavirus nephropathy should be at the differential diagnosis of AKI, even in the absence of typical symptoms. Steroid treatment may be helpful in reversal of kidney injury.