Association of Use of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers with Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity and Mortality

Background: A potential association between use of angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARB) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity has been suggested. We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the association between ACEI/ARB use and COVID-19 severity and mortality. Methods: The first 1,000 consecutive patients with COVID-19 who were attended in the emergency department at the Infanta Sofia University Hospital were included. Clinical data was manually extracted by reviewing medical records, and the ACEI/ARB prescription was assessed from an electronic pharmacy database. The primary endpoints were critical COVID-19 and mortality. Results: A total of 241 (24.1%) patients had a critical COVID-19 and 171 (17.1%) died. ACEI use was associated with critical COVID-19 (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.34-2.70), and with mortality (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.35-2.91) in the unadjusted analysis, but not after adjusting by age, sex and comorbidities (OR 1.15 95% CI 0.69-1.94, and OR 1.00 95% CI 0.56-1.77, respectively). Similarly, ARB use was associated with critical COVID-19 (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.11-2.58), although not with mortality (OR 1.47, 95% CI 0.98-2.19) in the unadjusted analysis, but not after adjusting by age, sex and comorbidities (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.57-1.65, and OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.41-1.33, respectively). Conclusion: These results suggest that the use of ACEI/ARB is not independently associated with COVID-19 severity and mortality.