Use of inhibitors of the renin‐angiotensin system in hypertensive patients and COVID‐19 severity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Jessica Barochiner, Rocío Martínez
Abstract
WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Controversy has arisen in the scientific community on whether the use of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors in the context of COVID-19 would be beneficial or harmful. A meta-analysis of eligible studies comparing the occurrence of severe and fatal COVID-19 in infected hypertensive patients who were under treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) vs no treatment or other antihypertensives was conducted. METHODS: PubMed, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Library, medRxiv and bioRxiv were searched for relevant studies. Fixed-effects models or random-effects models were used depending on the heterogeneity between estimates. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: = 65%. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The results of this pooled analysis suggest that the use of ACEI/ARB does not worsen the prognosis of COVID-19, and could even be protective in hypertensive subjects. Hypertensive patients should continue these drugs even if they become infected with SARS-CoV-2.