Pharmacotherapy for hypertensive urgency and emergency in COVID-19 patients.

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension is a common chronic disorder in patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Furthermore, an exaggerated cardiovascular response with persistently raised blood pressure during hospitalization seems independently associated with in-hospital all-cause mortality, intensive care unit admission and heart failure. However, the real burden of elevated blood pressure during the acute phase of COVID-19 remains undefined. AREAS COVERED: The authors review the available evidence on the pharmacotherapy for the treatment of acute elevations in blood pressure (including hypertensive urgency and emergency) in COVID-19 patients. EXPERT OPINION: Acute elevations in blood pressure and unstable in-hospital blood pressure may be associated with organ damage and worse outcome in patients with COVID-19. In this setting, hypertensive emergencies require immediate reduction in blood pressure through intravenous treatment according to specific features and goals. Conversely, hypertensive urgencies usually require solely oral treatment. Diuretics, beta-blockers, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers may be of benefit in treating COVID-19 patients with elevated blood pressure values.

[Malignant arterial hypertension (HTAM) with severe systolic dysfunction of the reversible left ventricle]. / Hipertensión arterial maligna (HTAM) con disfunción sistólica grave del ventrículo izquierdo reversible.

Malignant arterial hypertension is still present in current clinical care despite the fact that for more than three decades we have had a wide range of antihypertensive drugs to control high blood pressure. It is essential to know how to detect it in time due to its high risk to life, with poor short-term prognosis if not treated properly. It may present with nonspecific, but potentially serious, clinical symptoms or manifest clinically as a hypertensive emergency accompanied by hypertensive encephalopathy and multi-organ failure. We present a case of a 49-year-old woman, attended in our hospital who had an initial hypertension of 223/170mmHg accompanied by multi-organ failure, who progressed satisfactorily with antihypertensive treatment.