Kidney360 Publish Ahead of Print, published on May 17, 2021 as doi:10.34067/KID.0002592021 Increased mortality associated with hypermagnesemia in severe COVID-19 illness Jacob S. Stevens*1,2, Andrew A. Moses1, Thomas L. Nickolas1,2, S. Ali Husain1,2, Sumit Mohan1,2,3 1. Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY. 2. Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. *Corresponding author – email:
[email protected] Jacob S. Stevens, MD Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York, New York United States 1 Copyright 2021 by American Society of Nephrology. Key Points Hypermagnesemia is common in patients admitted with COVID-19 illness The development of hypermagnesemia in COVID-19 is associated with renal failure and markers of high cell turnover In adjusted models, patients who develop hypermagnesemia have an increased risk of mortality Abstract Background While electrolyte abnormalities are common among patients with COVID-19, very little has been reported on magnesium homeostasis in these patients. Here we report the incidence of hypermagnesemia and its association with outcomes among patients admitted with COVID-19. Methods We retrospectively identified all patients with a positive test result for SARS-CoV-2 who were admitted to a large quaternary care center in New York City in spring 2020. Details of the patients’ demographics and hospital course were obtained retrospectively from the medical record. Patients were defined as having hypermagnesemia if their median magnesium over the course of their hospitalization was >2.4 mg/dL.