COVID-19 infection may cause ketosis and ketoacidosis

Abstract

The present study included 658 hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19. Forty-two (6.4%) out of 658 patients presented with ketosis on admission with no obvious fever or diarrhoea. They had a median (interquartile range [IQR]) age of 47.0 (38.0-70.3) years, and 16 (38.1%) were men. Patients with ketosis were younger (median age 47.0 vs. 58.0 years; P = 0.003) and had a greater prevalence of fatigue (31.0% vs. 10.6%; P < 0.001), diabetes (35.7% vs. 18.5%; P = 0.007) and digestive disorders (31.0% vs. 12.0%; P < 0.001). They had a longer median (IQR) length of hospital stay (19.0 [12.8-33.3] vs. 16.0 [10.0-24.0] days; P < 0.001) and a higher mortality rate (21.4% vs. 8.9%; P = 0.017). Three (20.0%) out of the 15 patients with diabetic ketosis developed acidosis, five patients (26.7%) with diabetic ketosis died, and one of these (25.0%) presented with acidosis. Two (7.4%) and four (14.3%) of the 27 non-diabetic ketotic patients developed severe acidosis and died, respectively, and one (25.0%) of these presented with acidosis. This suggests that COVID-19 infection caused ketosis or ketoacidosis, and induced diabetic ketoacidosis for those with diabetes. Ketosis increased the length of hospital stay and mortality. Meanwhile, diabetes increased the length of hospital stay for patients with ketosis but had no effect on their mortality.

Keywords: COVID-19; DKA; infection; ketoacidosis; ketosis.