Does Hypertension Alone Increase Mortality in Young Hypertensive Patients Having COVID-19? Single Center Retrospective Study of 100 Patients

Abstract

Purpose: Whether hypertension is an independent risk factor for the severity of COVID-19 symptoms and COVID-19 mortality is still unclear. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effect of hypertension independently in the course of COVID-19 by comparing clinical characteristics and laboratory measurements in COVID-19 patients with and without preexisting hypertension. Materials and Methods: Fifty COVID-19 patients under the age of 45 with preexisting hypertension without accompanying chronic diseases were compared with 50 normotensive COVID-19 patients. All patients received the same treatment protocol. The frequency of symptoms, blood levels of inflammatory markers, length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) requirement, and mortality rates were compared between the groups. Results: Peak leukocyte count (8.1±2.7 x 103/mm3 vs. 6.9±1.9x103/mm3, p=0.012), peak C-reactive protein (52.7±9.7mg/L vs. 18.9±3.7 mg/L, p=0.024), and peak erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (55.5±5.7 mm/h, vs. 33.4±5.1 mm/h, p<0.01) were significantly higher in hypertensive patients compared to normotensive ones (all values respectively). Hospital stay duration was significantly longer in hypertensive patients than the normortensive ones. (hypertensive group 11±2.4 days; normotensive group 9.1±2.2 days, p=0.001). Conclusions: COVID-19 patients having hypertension have higher levels of inflammatory markers, higher levels of troponin, and longer hospital stay compared to COVID-19 subjects without hypertension. It appears that hypertensive patients tend to have a more severe COVID-19 infection than normotensive patients.

Keywords

• covi̇d19
• sarscov-2
• mortality
• hypertension