Clinical and biochemical features of the course of COVID-19 in patients with arterial hypertension

Abstract

Purpose. To study the clinical and biochemical features of the course of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in patients with arterial hypertension (AH). Material and methods. The retrospective study included 74 patients with COVID-19 treated in hospital (37 men and 37 women; median age: 55.0 [45.0, 59.0] years). The patients were divided into 2 groups: 1st (n=48) – patients with hypertension who had COVID-19; 2nd (n=26) – patients without concomitant cardiovascular pathology who had COVID-19. Patients were assessed daily (for 7 days) for the clinical symptoms of the disease with an assessment of complaints, respiratory rate, heart rate, SpO2. A study of the level of C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and ferritin was carried out initially, on the 3-5th and 8-10th days in the hospital. Results. In group 1, compared with group 2, cough, shortness of breath, myalgia (with minimization of symptoms during treatment), as well as significantly higher values of CRP and D-dimer were statistically significantly more common. At the same time, cough, shortness of breath and myalgia in patients with COVID-19 and hypertension were more pronounced at the onset of the disease, in contrast to patients without hypertension. An increase in CRP and D-dimer indicators determines the severity of the condition of patients with comorbid pathology at the onset of the disease and requires timely hospitalization of this category of patients.