COVID-19 patients with hypertension under potential risk of worsened organ injuries (preprint)

ABSTRACT

COVID -19 has rapidly spread from Wuhan to worldwide, and now has become a global health concern. Hypertension is the most common chronic illness in COVID-19, while the influence on those patients have not been well described. In this retrospective study, 82 confirmed patients with COVID-19 were enrolled, with epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, radiological, and therapies data analyzed and compared between COVID-19 patients with (29 cases) or without (53 cases) hypertension. Of all 82 patients with COVID-19, the median age of all patients was 60.5 years, including 49 females (59.8%) and 33 (40.2%) males. Hypertension (31[28.2%]) was the most chronic illness, followed by diabetes (16 [19.5%]) and cardiovascular disease (15 [18.3%]). Common symptoms included fatigue (55[67.1%]), dry cough (46 [56.1%]) and fever (≥37.3℃ (46 [56.1%]). The median time from illness onset to positive outcomes of RT-PCR analysis were 13.0 days, ranging from 3-25 days. In hypertension group, 6 (20.7%) patients died compared to 5 (9.4%) died in non-hypertension group. More hypertension patients with COVID-19 (8 [27.6%]) had at least one coexisting disease than those of non-hypertension patients (2 [3.8%]) (P=0.002). Compared with non-hypertension patients, higher levels of neutrophil counts, serum amyloid A, C-reactive protein, and NT-proBNP were observed in hypertension group, whereas levels of lymphocyte count and eGFR were decreased. Dynamic observations displayed more significant and worsened outcomes in hypertension group after hospital admission. COVID-19 patients with hypertension take more risks of severe inflammatory reactions, worsened internal organ injuries, and deteriorated progress.