Angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers should be continued in COVID-19 patients with hypertension.

Recent studies have revealed that sustained ingestion of angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEIs/ARBs) had no harmful effects on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients complicated with hypertension. To investigate the impact on COVID-19 patients complicated with hypertension who discontinued using ACEIs/ARBs. All COVID-19 patients complicated with hypertension admitted to our isolated unit were consecutively recruited in this study. Some patients switched from ACEIs/ARBs to calcium channel blocker (CCBs) after admission, while others continued using non-ACEIs/ARBs. We compared characteristics and clinical outcomes between these two groups of patients. A total of 53 patients were enrolled, 27 patients switched from ACEIs/ARBs to CCBs while 26 patients continued with non-ACEIs/ARBs. After controlling potential confounding factors using the Cox proportional hazards model, hospital stay was longer in patients who discontinued ACEIs/ARBs, with a hazard ratio of 0.424 (95% confidence interval: 0.187-0.962; P = 0.040), upon discharge than patients using other anti-hypertensive drugs. A sub-group analysis showed that the effect of discontinuing use of ACEIs/ARBs was stronger in moderate cases [hazard ratio = 0.224 (95% confidence interval: 0.005-0.998; P = 0.0497)]. Patients in the discontinued ACEIs/ARBs group had longer hospital stays. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 patients complicated with hypertension should continue to use ACEIs/ARBs. ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Ci Tian, Nan Li, Yi Bai, Han Xiao, Shu Li, Qing-Gang Ge, Ning Shen, Qing-Bian Ma. Angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers should be continued in COVID-19 patients with hypertension. World journal of clinical cases. 2021 Jan 06;9(1):47-60

PMID: 33511171

search → result