ACEIs/ARBs not linked to severity or mortality of COVID-19

(HealthDay)—For patients with hypertension hospitalized with COVID-19 infections, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs)/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are not associated with the severity or mortality of COVID-19, according to a brief report published online April 23 in JAMA Cardiology.

Juyi Li, M.D., from The Central Hospital of Wuhan and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, and colleagues conducted a retrospective single-center case series of 1,178 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infections from Jan. 15 to March 15, 2020, to examine the association between ACEIs/ARBs and severity of illness and mortality in patients with hypertension.

The researchers found that the overall in-hospital mortality was 11.0 percent in the cohort. There were 362 patients with hypertension (30.7 percent of the total cohort), of whom 31.8 percent were taking ACEIs/ARBs. In patients with hypertension, the in-hospital mortality was 21.3 percent. There was no difference noted in the percentage of patients with hypertension taking ACEIs/ARBs between those with severe and nonsevere infections (32.9 versus 30.7 percent) or between nonsurvivors and survivors (27.3 versus 33.0 percent). When data were analyzed for patients taking ACEIs and those taking ARBs, the findings were similar.

"These data support current guidelines and societal recommendations for treating hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic," the authors write.