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).