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Purpose@#We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for “early brain metastasis”, which occurs before extracranial recurrence (ECR), and “late brain metastasis”, which occurs after ECR, in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). @*Materials and Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed 271 LS-SCLC patients who underwent definitive chemoradiation. All patients were initially staged with brain magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Intracranial recurrence (ICR), ECR, progression-free rate (PFR), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed as clinical endpoints. The competing risk of the first recurrence with ICR (ICRfirst) was evaluated. Significantly associated variables in multivariate analysis of ECR were considered as ECR risk factors. Patients were stratified according to the number of ECR risk factors. @*Results@#The application of PCI was associated with higher PFR (p=0.008) and OS (p=0.045). However, PCI was not associated with any of the clinical endpoints in multivariate analysis. The competing risk of ICRfirst was significantly decreased with the application of PCI (hazard ratio, 0.476; 95% confidence interval, 0.243 to 0.931; p=0.030). Stage III disease, sequential, and stable disease after thoracic radiation were selected as ECR risk factors. For patients without these risk factors, the application of PCI was significantly associated with increased OS (p=0.048) and a decreased risk of ICRfirst (p=0.026). @*Conclusion@#PCI may play a role in preventing early brain metastasis rather than late brain metastasis after ECR, suggesting that only patients with a low risk of ECR may currently benefit from PCI.
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Gallstones are relatively common in the general population, and the clinical presentation is asymptomatic in most patients or has a benign course, such as biliary colic or vague gastrointestinal symptoms. On the other hand, it sometimes causes life-threatening complications, such as cholecystitis and pancreatitis. Asymptomatic gallstones do not require specific treatment, but a cholecystectomy may be necessary if the patient has a high risk of complications or gallbladder cancer. Abdominal ultrasonography is the most useful diagnostic tool for gallstones, which shows high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, endoscopic ultrasonography may be helpful when typical symptoms of gallstones are present, but gallstones are not identified with abdominal ultrasonography. Abdominal CT, MRCP, or ERCP help identify complications or other accompanying diseases caused by gallstones. Oral bile acid dissolution therapy can be attempted by administering ursodeoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid if gallstones are confirmed, but the related symptoms are mild or atypical, and the patient is unable/unwilling to undergo a cholecystectomy. A high success rate can be achieved when the treatment candidate is appropriately selected. The disadvantages of oral bile acid dissolution therapy are that there are few appropriate candidates, long-term treatment is required, and the gallstone frequently recurs when the treatment is discontinued.
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Background@#With advance of next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques, the need for mitochondrial DNA analysis is increasing not only in the forensic area, but also in medical fields. @*Methods@#Two commercial programs, Converge Software (CS) and Torrent Variant Caller for variant calling of NGS data, were compared with a considerable amount of sequence data of 50 samples with a homogeneous ethnicity. @*Results@#About 2,300 variants were identified and the two programs showed about 90% of consistency. CS, a dedicated analysis program for mitochondrial DNA, showed some advantages for forensic use. By additional visual inspection, several causes of discrepancy in variant calling results were identified. Application of different notation rules for mitochondrial sequence and the minor allele frequency close to detection threshold were the two most significant reasons. @*Conclusion@#With prospective improvement of each program, researchers and practitioners should be aware of characteristics of the analysis program they use and prepare their own strategies to determine variants.
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Background/Aims@#This study aimed to investigate the patterns of preferred endoscopic procedure types and techniques for managing difficult common bile duct (CBD) stones in South Korea. @*Methods@#The Committee of Policy and Quality Management of Korean Pancreatobiliary Association (KPBA) conducted a survey containing 19 questions. Both paper and online surveys were carried out; with the paper survey being conducted during the 2019 Annual Congress of KPBA and the online survey being conducted through Google Forms from April 2020 to February 2021. @*Results@#The response rate was approximately 41.3% (86/208). Sixty-two (73.0%) worked at tertiary hospitals or academic medical centers, and 60 (69.7%) had more than 5 years of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography experience. The preferred size criteria for large CBD stones were 15 mm (40.6%), 20 mm (31.3%), and 30 mm (4.6%). For managing of large CBD stones, endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation after endoscopic sphincterotomy was the most preferred technique (74.4%). When performing procedures in those with bleeding diathesis, 64 (74.4%) respondents favored endoscopic papillary balloon dilation (EPBD) alone or EPBD with small endoscopic sphincterotomy. Fifty-five respondents (63.9%) preferred the doubleguidewire technique when faced with difficult bile duct cannulation in patients with periampullary diverticulum. In surgically altered anatomies, cap-fitted forward viewing endoscopy (76.7%) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (48.8%) were the preferred techniques for Billroth-II anastomosis and total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y anastomosis, respectively. @*Conclusions@#Most respondents showed unifying trends for the management of difficult CBD stones. The current practice patterns could be used as basic data for clinical quality improvements in the management of difficult CBD stones.
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Background/Aims@#Although endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) and fine needle biopsy (FNB) are widely used for tissue acquisition of pancreatic solid mass, the optimal strategy of this procedure has not been established yet. The aim of this nationwide study was to investigate the current practice patterns of EUS-FNA/FNB for pancreatic solid mass in Korea. @*Methods@#The Policy-Quality Management of the Korean Pancreatobiliary Association (KPBA) developed a questionnaire containing 22 questions. An electronic survey consisting of the questionnaire was distributed by e-mail to members registered to the KPBA. @*Results@#A total of 101 respondents completed the survey. Eighty respondents (79.2%) performed preoperative EUS-FNA/FNB for operable pancreatic solid mass. Acquire needles (60.4%) were used the most, followed by ProCore needles (47.5%). In terms of need size, most respondents (>80%) preferred 22-gauge needles regardless of the location of the mass. Negative suction with a 10-mL syringe (71.3%) as sampling technique was followed by stylet slow-pull (41.6%). More than three needle passes for EUS-FNA/FNB was performed by most respondents (>80%). The frequency of requiring repeated procedure was significantly higher in respondents with a low individual volume (<5 per month, p=0.001). Prophylactic antibiotics were routinely used in 39 respondents (38.6%); rapid on-site pathologic evaluation was used in 6.1%. @*Conclusions@#According to this survey, practices of EUS-FNA/FNB for pancreatic solid mass varied substantially, some of which differed considerably from the recommendations present in existing guidelines. These results suggest that the development of evidence-based quality guidelines fitting Korean clinical practice is needed to establish the optimal strategy for this procedure.
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Purpose@#In the treatment of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in limited-stage small cell lung cancer, the optimal once-daily radiotherapy (RT) dose/fractionation remain unclear although it is the most frequently used. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the treatment outcomes and toxicities of modest dose RT (≤ 54 Gy) with those of standard dose RT (> 54 Gy) and investigate the benefit of the high dose based on patient factors. @*Materials and Methods@#Since 2004, our institution has gradually increased the thoracic RT dose. Among the 225 patients who underwent CCRT, 84 patients (37.3%) received > 54 Gy. Because the patients treated with RT > 54 Gy were not randomly assigned, propensity score matching (PSM) was performed. @*Results@#The proportion of patients treated with > 54 Gy increased over time (p=0.014). Multivariate analysis revealed that the overall tumor stage and dose > 54 Gy (hazard ratio, 0.65; p=0.029) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS). PSM confirmed that thoracic RT doses of > 54 Gy showed significantly improved progression-free survival (3-year, 42.7% vs. 24.0%; p 54 Gy was not observed but considerable rates of severe pulmonary toxicities were observed (p=0.001). @*Conclusion@#Our analysis supports that the 60 Gy RT dose should be considered in the once-daily regimen of CCRT for limited-stage small cell lung cancer without underlying lung disease, but RT dose > 54 Gy did not seem to benefit for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or interstitial lung disease. Further study is needed to validate these results.
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Concerns about the effectiveness of current vaccines against the rapidly spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 omicron (B.1.1.529) variant are increasing. This study aimed to assess neutralizing antibody activity against the wild-type (BetaCoV/Korea/ KCDC03/2020), delta, and omicron variants after full primary and booster vaccinations with BNT162b2. A plaque reduction neutralization test was employed to determine 50% neutralizing dilution (ND 50 ) titers in serum samples. ND 50 titers against the omicron variant (median [interquartile range], 5.3 [50 titers than the detection threshold (50 titers against BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020, delta, and omicron, although titers against omicron remained lower than those against the other variants (P < 0.001). Our study suggests that booster vaccination with BNT162b2 significantly increases humoral immunity against the omicron variant.
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Buerger’s disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory vasculitis of unknown etiology. The infectious etiology of BD was proposed by Buerger in 1914. Furthermore, there are scattered reports insisting that BD may be related to rickettsial infection, first asserted by Goodman since 1916, followed by Giroud and other French investigators from the 1940s through the 1960s, Nicolau in the 1960s, Bartolo (1980s), and Fazeli (2010s). However, their causal relationship has hardly been accepted because rickettsial infections are known to be acute febrile, vector-borne illnesses, whereas BD is a chronic afebrile illness. In this article we review the relevant literature on the chronic nature of Rickettsia and Orientia infections and on the rickettsial etiology of BD. Excellent initial responses to doxycycline in three patients with BD are briefly described. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that BD patients acquired a rickettsial infection far before the onset of BD. Over years, the infected area expands to become a segment of the infected vessel. Subsequently, thrombus develops on the luminal surface of the infected endothelial cells, which produces the vascular obstructive manifestations of BD. Collectively, it is postulated that BD is a chronic infection with a member of the family Rickettsiaceae with superimposed thrombosis.
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Erythema nodosum (EN) is the most common form of panniculitis and may be triggered by a variety of stimuli, including infections, drugs, pregnancy, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and malignancies. Rare cases of vaccination-related EN have been reported, but none due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine of Pfizer have been documented. We report a case of EN associated with the Pfizer vaccine. A 43-year-old woman presented with acute-onset painful nodular lesions that appeared bilaterally on the extensor surface of the lower legs. These lesions appeared 5 days after the first dose of Pfizer vaccination. The patient reported no recent infectious history other than fever for 3 days after vaccination. Skin biopsy revealed inflammation extending into the subcutaneous fat with a septal distribution. It is important for physicians to be aware of the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine because more people are bound to be vaccinated.
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Background and Objectives@#There still are controversies on which type between bovine pericardial and porcine valves is superior in the setting of aortic valve replacement (AVR). This study aims to compare clinical outcomes of AVR using between pericardial or porcine valves. @*Methods@#The study involved consecutive 636 patients underwent isolated AVR using stented bioprosthetic valves between January 2000 and May 2016. Of these, pericardial and porcine valves were implanted in 410 (pericardial group) and 226 patients (porcine group), respectively. Clinical outcomes including survival, structural valve deterioration (SVD) and trans-valvular pressure gradient were compared between the groups. To adjust for potential selection bias, inverse probability treatment weighting (IPTW) was conducted. @*Results@#The mean follow-up duration was 60.1±50.2 months. There were no significant differences in the rates of early mortality (3.1% vs. 3.1%; p=0.81) and SVD (0.3%/patient-year [PY] vs. 0.5%/PY; p=0.33) between groups. After adjustment using IPTW, however, landmark mortality analyses showed a significantly lower late (>8 years) mortality risk in pericardial group over porcine group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.61; 95% confidence interval, [CI] 0.41–0.90; p=0.01) while the risks of SVD were not significantly difference between groups (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.12–1.70; p=0.24). Mean pressure gradient across prosthetic AV was lower in the Pericardial group than the Porcine group at both immediate postoperative point and latest follow-up (p values <0.001). @*Conclusions@#In patients undergoing bioprosthetic surgical AVR, bovine pericardial valves showed superior results in terms of postoperative hemodynamic profiles and late survival rates over porcine valves.
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Since severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 variant B.1.1.529 (omicron) was first reported to the World Health Organization on November 24, 2021, the cases of the omicron variant have been detected in more than 90 countries over the last month. We investigated the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the first 40 patients with the omicron variant who had been isolated at the National Medical Center in South Korea during December 4–17, 2021. The median age of the patients was 39.5 years. Twenty-two patients (55%) were women. Seventeen patients (42.5%) were fully vaccinated, and none were reinfected with the omicron. Eighteen (45%) had recent international travel history. Half of the patients (19, 47.5%) were asymptomatic, while the others had mild symptoms. Six patients (15%) showed lung infiltrations on chest image; however, none required supplemental oxygen. These mild clinical features are consistent with recent case reports on the omicron variant from other countries.
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Background@#Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are potentially fatal acute hypersensitivity reactions that involve the skin and mucous membranes. Because they are relatively rare diseases, it is difficult to obtain well-organized epidemiological data. The clinicodemographic characteristics, culprit drugs, and factors related to disease prognosis may vary. @*Objective@#To identify the characteristics of SJS/TEN by investigating patient clinicopathological characteristics, laboratory findings, suspected drugs, and mortality through a retrospective study using medical record data. @*Methods@#The clinical records of patients diagnosed with SJS/TEN between February 2009 and February 2019 at three medical institutions of Soonchunhyang University were retrospectively reviewed. Data pertaining to sex, age, history, suspected drugs, latent period, laboratory findings, and mortality were collected, and their correlations were analyzed. @*Results@#We identified SJS/TEN in 88 patients. Among the probable causative agents, antibiotics were the most common (29 cases, 33.0%), followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in 20 cases (22.7%). The period between drug administration and symptom onset varied with the causative agent. Patients who died had high SCORTEN scores. In addition, hypertension, diabetes, renal failure, and cardiac disease had a statistically significant association with high SCORTEN. @*Conclusion@#Antibiotics, NSAIDs, antiepileptics and allopurinol were the most commonly implicated drugs in our retrospective study. There was a significant correlation between comorbidities. Because SJS/TEN is a life-threatening condition, early recognition of the suspected drug are important. The results of this study may provide insights that aid in the early diagnosis and prediction of disease outcomes of SJS/TEN in the Korean population.
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Background and Objectives@#As a consequence of a growing number of patients undergoing prosthetic heart valve replacement, the incidence of prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) has increased. The study aims to analyze patterns and outcomes of PVE surgery as compared with native valve endocarditis (NVE). @*Methods@#We enrolled 269 patients (aged 58.0±15.7 years) who underwent valve surgery for infective endocarditis (IE) between 2013 and 2019. Of these, 56 had PVE whereas remainder (n=213) had NVE. Clinical outcomes were compared and multivariable analyses were conducted to determine risk factors for mortality. @*Results@#The proportion of PVE among surgical IE gradually increased from 15.4% (11/71) in the first time-quartile to 29.5% (18/61) in the last time-quartile (p=0.055). PVE patients were older, and more commonly had aorto-mitral curtain involvement and abscess formation than NVE group. Early mortality was 14.3% and 6.1% in PVE and NVE group, respectively (p=0.049). Postoperatively, PVE group had higher incidences of low cardiac output syndrome (p=0.027), new-onset dialysis (p=0.006) and reoperation for bleeding (p=0.004) compared to NVE group, but stroke rates were comparable (p=0.503). During follow-up (648.8 patientyears), PVE group showed significantly higher risks of overall mortality (p<0.001), valve reinfection (p<0.001) and permanent pacemaker implantation (p<0.001) than NVE group. On multivariable analysis, PVE (hazard ratio, 2.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.40–5.07; p=0.003) along with age, chronic kidney disease, multi-valve involvement, and causative organisms of Staphylococcus aureus or fungus were independent risk factors of overall mortality. @*Conclusions@#PVE carried significant perioperative risks, and was an independent risk factor of overall mortality.
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Background@#Pregnant women are at a high-risk of influenza infection. We have previously reported a low influenza vaccination coverage rate (4.0%) in Korea during the 2006–2007 influenza season. We conducted follow-up studies in 2011–2012 and 2018–2019 to observe changes in influenza vaccination coverage. @*Methods@#Women who delivered at Inha University Hospital (Incheon, Korea) in 2011–2012 and 2018–2019 were enrolled in the study. We surveyed the rate of influenza vaccination, perception scores, and related factors through telephonic interviews and compared the results from 2011–2012 and 2018–2019 with those from 2006–2007. @*Results@#The number of survey respondents was 227 in 2006–2007, 152 in 2011–2012, and 171 in 2018–2019. The rate of vaccination coverage increased from 4.0% in 2006–2007 to 42.0% in 2011–2012 and 59.3% in 2018–2019. Perception scores also increased progressively from 3.8 in 2006–2007 to 4.2 in 2011–2012 and 5.1 in 2018–2019. Physician recommendations for influenza vaccination also increased from 4.8% in 2006–2007 to 36.8% in 2011–2012 and 49.7% in 2018–2019. The most common reason for not getting vaccinated was the lack of awareness of influenza vaccination during pregnancy (36.9%). The perception scores and physician recommendation rates were significantly lower for unvaccinated women (3.87 and 8.4%, respectively) than for vaccinated women (5.14 and 69.1%, respectively). @*Conclusion@#The influenza vaccination coverage rate in pregnant women has increased significantly since our study in 2006–2007. However, further improvement in the coverage rate is needed. There is a need for active and comprehensive publicity and education regarding this issue among physicians and pregnant women.
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Purpose@#Echocardiography is useful in the management of critically ill patients, but there are few studies on the usefulness of an echocardiography for critical general surgery patients. This study aimed to address this by analyzing the indications and findings for and clinical outcomes between (1) chest trauma; (2) cardiac specific pathology; and (3) hemodynamic instability groups of critical general surgery patients @*Methods@#Retrospective analysis was performed on the medical records data from the last 5 years of general surgery patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and had an echocardiography at least once during their ICU stay. The patient data were divided into 3 groups according to the indication for an echocardiography and based on the clinical situation. Demographics, the ratio of positive echocardiography findings, and clinical outcomes including the length of hospital stay, length of ICU stay, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed among these groups. @*Results@#There were statistical differences in the rate of positive echocardiography findings (p = 0.018) and in-hospital mortality (p = 0.001) amongst the groups with different echocardiography indications; there was no difference in the length of stay. Patients who had an echocardiography due to hemodynamic instability or cardiologic pathology presented with a higher ratio of positive echocardiography findings and mortality, compared with the chest trauma patient group. The chest trauma group showed the lowest rate of positive echocardiography findings (7%). @*Conclusion@#Echocardiographies are useful for general surgery patients in ICUs when there are indications such as previous cardiac pathology history or hemodynamic instability.
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Purpose@#This study compared the functional and radiologic outcomes of intramedullary nailing (IMN) and minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO) for tibia fractures in distal tibial spiral fractures combined with posterior malleolar fractures, as well as the functional and radiologic outcomes with and without fixation for posterior malleolar fractures. @*Materials and Methods@#From January 2010 to December 2018 the radiological and clinical outcomes of 30 skeletally mature patients with tibial spiral fractures (AO Foundation/Orthopaedic Trauma Association classification 42-A1, B1, C1) combined with posterior malleolar fractures were analyzed. Sixteen patients were treated with IMN, and 14 patients were treated with MIPO. Depending on the surgical methods, the radiologic and clinical outcomes were compared by evaluating the bone union time, postoperative alignment, postoperative displacement of the posterior malleolar fragment, and American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score. Moreover, the functional and clinical outcomes with and without fixation for posterior malleolar fractures were compared. @*Results@#The mean bone union time was 21.8 weeks in the IMN group and 23.1 weeks in the MIPO group (p=0.500). At the final follow up, the mean alignment was coronal angulation of 1.8°, sagittal angulation of 1.6° in the IMN group and coronal angulation of 1.2° and sagittal angulation of 1.7° in the MIPO group (conoral angulation: p=0.131, sagittal angulation: p=0.850). The postoperative and final radiologic evaluation showed no displacement of the posterior malleolar fragment and excellent joint congruity in all cases. At the final follow-up, the mean AOFAS score was 88.0 on average in the IMN group and 87.6 on average in the MIPO group (p=0.905). The ankle range of motion and AOFAS score were similar in the fixation group and no fixation group for posterior malleolar fractures. @*Conclusion@#Both IMN and MIPO for tibial spiral fractures combined with posterior malleolar fractures result in satisfactory radiological and clinical outcomes.
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Background@#Advanced cancers are associated with more severe symptoms and greater impairment. Although most patients with metastatic cancer would benefit from rehabilitation, few patients receive appropriate rehabilitation therapy. We explored the use of rehabilitation therapy by cancer patients. Our data represented the entire population of Korea. The analyses were performed according to cancer type and stage. @*Methods@#We extracted rehabilitation utilization data of patients newly diagnosed with cancer in the period of 2011–2015 from the Korea Central Cancer Registry, which is linked to the claims database of the National Health Insurance Service (n = 958,928). @*Results@#The utilisation rate increased during the study period, from 6.0% (11,504) of 192,835 newly diagnosed patients in 2011 to 6.8% (12,455) of 183,084 newly diagnosed patients in 2015. Patients with central nervous system (28.4%) and bone (27.8%) cancer were most likely to undergo physical rehabilitation. The rehabilitation rate was higher in patients with metastatic than localised or regional cancer (8.7% vs. 5.3% vs. 5.5%). @*Conclusion@#This claims-based study revealed that rehabilitation therapy for cancer patients is underutilised in Korea. Although patients with metastasis underwent more intensive rehabilitation than patients with early stage cancer, those without brain and bone tumours (the treatment of which is covered by insurance) were less likely to use rehabilitation services. Further efforts to improve the use of rehabilitation would improve the outcomes of cancer patients.
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Asthma is a heterogeneous disease whose development is shaped by a variety of environmental and genetic factors. While several recent studies suggest that microbial dysbiosis in the gut may promote asthma, little is known about the relationship between the recently discovered lung microbiome and asthma. Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have also been shown recently to participate in asthma. To investigate the relationship between the lung microbiome, ILCs, and asthma, we recruited 23 healthy controls (HC), 42 patients with non-severe asthma, and 32 patients with severe asthma. Flow cytometry analysis showed severe asthma associated with fewer natural cytotoxicity receptor (NCR) + ILC3s in the lung.Similar changes in other ILC subsets, macrophages, and monocytes were not observed. The asthma patients did not differ from the HC in terms of the alpha and beta-diversity of the lung and gut microbiomes. However, lung function correlated positively with both NCR + ILC3 frequencies and microbial diversity in the lung. Sputum NCR + ILC3 frequencies correlated positively with lung microbiome diversity in the HC, but this relationship was inversed in severe asthma. Together, these data suggest that airway NCR + ILC3s may contribute to a healthy commensal diversity and normal lung function.
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no abstract available.
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Background/Aims@#Although it is near concluded that renin-angiotensin system inhibitors do not have a harmful effect on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), there is no report about whether angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) offer any protective role. This study aimed to compare the association of ARBs and ACEIs with COVID-19-related mortality. @*Methods@#All patients with COVID-19 in Korea between January 19 and April 16, 2020 were enrolled. The association of ARBs and ACEIs with mortality within 60 days were evaluated. A comparison of hazard ratio (HR) was performed between COVID-19 patients and a retrospective cohort of pneumonia patients hospitalized in 2019 in Korea. @*Results@#Among 10,448 COVID-19 patients, ARBs and ACEIs were prescribed in 1,231 (11.7%) and 57 (0.6%) patients, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, and history of comorbidities, the ARB group showed neutral association (HR, 1.034; 95% CI, 0.765 to 1.399; p = 0.8270) and the ACEI groups showed no significant associations likely owing to the small population size (HR, 0.736; 95% CI, 0.314 to 1.726; p = 0.4810). When comparing HR between COVID-19 patients and a retrospective cohort of patients hospitalized with pneumonia in 2019, the trend of ACEIs showed similar benefits, whereas the protective effect of ARBs observed in the retrospective cohort was absent in COVID-19 patients. Meta-analyses showed significant positive correlation with survival of ACEIs, whereas a neutral association between ARBs and mortality. @*Conclusions@#Although ARBs or ACEIs were not associated with fatal outcomes, potential beneficial effects of ARBs observed in pneumonia were attenuated in COVID-19.