Long Term Cardio-Vascular Risk Assessment in CKD and Kidney Transplanted Patients Following SARS-COV-2

The occurrence of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has offered an unmatched global challenge for the healthcare research community. SARS-CoV-2 infection is produced by binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), which among other sites is highly expressed in the endothelial cells of the blood vessels, pericytes and the heart, as well as in renal podocytes and proximal tubular epithelial cells. Autopsy studies detected the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in both myocardium and renal tissue, suggesting that COVID-19 profoundly influences the cardiovascular (CV) system and the kidneys and this may lead to long-termed cardio-pulmonary-renal consequences. Data emerging from the general population suggests that COVID-19 is essentially an endothelial disease, with possible deleterious long-term effects that are currently incompletely understood. Therefore, the investigators aim to assess the CV risk in a chronic kidney disease (CKD) including dialysis patients and kidney transplanted (KTx) population, following SARS-CoV-2 infection, by determining the long-term impact of this disease on CV and renal outcomes in the aforementioned population as compared to a control group of matched patients.