Purpose of the studyHypertension is one of the most common comorbidities in COVID-19 pneumonia. However, whether it is an independent factor on the severity and mortality of COVID-19 has not been studied.Study designIn this study, 736 patients with a PCR-confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were included from 12 January 2020 to 25 March 2020. All patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not they were hypertensive. After propensity score matching (PSM) to remove the interference of mismatches in the baseline data, the clinical characteristics and outcomes of angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB)/ACE inhibitors application were analysed.ResultsA total of 220 (29.9%) patients were hypertensive, and 516 (70.1%) patients were not hypertensive. PSM eliminated demographic and comorbidity differences between the two groups. Of all participants, 32 patients died (4.3% mortality), including 17 out of 220 in the hypertension group (7.7%) and 15 out of 516 in the non-hypertension group (2.9%). The incidence of intensive care unit (ICU) stay in the hypertension group (12.8%) was higher than in the non-hypertension group (5.3%) (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension was an independent risk factor for death, not other comorbidities. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that mortality was higher in the hypertension group than in the non-hypertension group before and after PSM (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in ICU therapy, mortality and hospitalisation time between hypertensive patients with or without ARBs/ACE inhibitors (p>0.05).ConclusionHypertension was an independent risk factor for the severity and mortality of patients with COVID-19. ARBs/ACE inhibitors should not be discontinued in hypertensive patients with COVID-19.

Fluorescent polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs) have been effectively synthesized by the means of the self-polymerization of dopamine under strong alkaline condition of ethylenediamine at room temperature for 2.5 h. The...

Background and objectives:Restenosis is a serious complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). This prospective clinical study was designed to investigate the effects of liposomal prostaglandin E1 (lipo-PGE1) on coronary stenosis and restenosis.Methods: Sixty patients diagnosed with CHD and scheduled for PCI surgery in Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into either the Control group (n = 30) or lipo-PGE1 treatment group (PGE group) (n = 30). Restenosis after PCI was the primary outcome, and newly increased stenosis was the secondary outcome. Results:In total, 54 patients finished the follow-up and were included in the final analysis (n = 30 in the Control group and n = 24 in the PGE group). Baseline comparisons of stenosis location, stenosis degree, and the number of vessels in stenosis before PCI were comparable (P > 0.05). Comparisons of implanted stents showed similar features in stent diameter and stent length during PCI between the two groups (P > 0.05). For the primary outcome, there was no obvious difference in restenosis percentage (χ 2 = 1.520, P = 0.615) nor number of vessels in restenosis (χ 2 = 0.070, P = 0.791) in three arteries between groups. For the secondary outcome, although there was no significant difference in the number of non-culprit vessels in increased stenosis after PCI between groups (χ 2 = 3.902, P = 0.272), the percentage of increased stenosis was much lower in the right coronary artery in the PGE group than the Control group (U = 263.0, P = 0.048). Conclusions:This study demonstrated the lipo-PGE1 did not affect restenosis after PCI, but it may be effective in ameliorating