This study investigated continued and discontinued use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) during hospitalization of 614 hypertensive laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients. Demographics, comorbidities, vital signs, and laboratory data and ACEi/ARB usage were analyzed. To account for confounders, patients were sub-stratified by whether they developed hypotension and acute kidney injury (AKI) during the index hospitalization. Mortality (22% vs 17%, p>0.05) and intensive-care-unit (ICU) admission (26% vs 12%, p>0.05) rates were not significantly different between non-ACEi/ARB and ACEi/ARB groups. However, patients who continued ACEi/ARBs in the hospital had markedly lower ICU admission rate (12% vs 26%, p=0.001, OR=0.347 [95% CI:0.187-0.643]) and mortality rate (6% vs 28%, p=0.001, OR=0.215 [95% CI:0.101-0.455]) compared to patients who discontinued ACEi/ARB. The odds ratio for mortality remained significantly lower after accounting for development of hypotension or AKI. These findings suggest that continued ACEi/ARB use in hypertensive COVID-19 patients yields better clinical outcomes.
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