Open AccessRare Occurrence of Hyperkalemia Following Remdesivir: A Case Series
Author(s) -
Harsh Patel,
Sapna Gupta,
Supriya D. Malhotra
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of clinical medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2736-5476
DOI - 10.24018/clinicmed.2021.2.5.121
Subject(s) - medicine , hyperkalemia , vomiting , diarrhea , nausea , hypokalemia , coronavirus , anesthesia , covid-19 , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Remdesivir is a nucleoside analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity against several viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus, Nipah virus, Ebola virus (EBOV), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), and Severe Acute respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-1 (SARS-CoV-1). Remdesivir has been used in moderate to severe COVID-19 during the pandemic. Remdesivir is associated with various adverse drug reactions like serum transaminase elevation, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, poor appetite, gastroparesis, pneumothorax, hypotension, hematuria etc. It has been rarely associated with hyperkalemia. We have reported 3 cases of hyperkalemia following Remdesivir use. In all 3 cases, patients did not have any renal pathology or history of alcohol consumption. Patients were not taking any concurrent medication which increases serum potassium levels with such characteristics seen in our cases. Temporal association was present between hyperkalemia and initiation of Remdesivir in all cases described. Hence, it is very important to be vigilant while prescribing Remdesivir in COVID-19.