Results
In this study, the records of 107 patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and who had been using antihypertensive drugs before this diagnosis were examined. 55 patients included in this study were using ACEIs due to hypertension. 52 patients were using calcium channel blockers (CCBs) (34.6%, n=37), β-blockers (31.8%, n=34), alpha-2 blockers (3.7%, n=4), or diuretics (28.9%, n=31) alone or in combination. Six patients using angiotensin- receptor blockers (ARBs) were excluded from the study. The mean age of 107 patients included in this study was 68,49±11,95 years. 50.5% (n = 54) of them were male. Mortality rate was 22.4% (n = 24). When all patients were evaluated together, their comorbid diseases included diabetes (47.7%), coronary artery disease (CAD) (31.8%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (10.3%), and chronic renal failure (CRF) (14%). The comparative demographic and clinical characteristics of the patient groups using ACEIs and not using ACEIs are given in Table 1. The comorbidity rates of diabetes, CAD, COPD, and CRF were similar in both patient groups (p=0.103, p=0.540, p=0.135, p=0.341, respectively). There was no difference between the two groups concerning symptom duration or complaint characteristics (Table 1). When the two groups were compared, no difference was found between the characteristics of the patients’ ward or intensive care follow-up processes (p=0.161). When the computed tomography findings of the patients were classified as the presence of unilateral or bilateral ground glass appearance, or the dispersal of multilobar lung lesions, less multilobar involvement was found in the ACEIs using group (p<0.001).
There was a statistically significant difference in death rates between the ACEIs using and non-ACEIs using groups (12.7% vs. 32.7%, respectively, p=0.013). When vital signs (systolic blood pressure, body temperature, oxygen saturation, heart rate) and D-dimer, Ferritin, CRP, creatinine, hemoglobin, leukocyte, lymphocyte, and procalcitonin levels were compared between the patient groups using ACEIs and not using ACEIs, no statistically significant difference was found (p> 0.05) (Table 2).
For predicting mortality in univariate regression analysis; age (OR = 1.075; 95% CI: 1.026-1.126, p=0.002), CRF (OR = 3.86; 95% CI: 1.231-12.105, p=0.021), ACEIs (OR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.112-0.802, p=0.016), multilobar lung lesions, (OR = 3.385; 95% CI: 1.221-9.382, p=0.019), fever (OR = 2.182; 95% CI: 1.339-3.556, p=0.002), D-Dimer (OR = 17.942; 95% CI: 4.39-73.321, p<0.001), leukocytes (OR = 1.113; 95% CI: 1.025-1.208, p=0.011), creatinine (OR = 2.283; 95% CI: 1.49-3.498, p<0.001), hemoglobin (OR = 1.113; 95% CI: 1.025-1.208, p=0.011) values’ significant efficacy was observed (Table 3).