CLINICAL CONSEQUENCES IN POST COVID-19 HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the clinical consequences in hypertensive patients after 1.2 ± 0.3 years after COVID-19 recovery. Design and method: We studied 51 treated hypertensive patients, which were divided into 2 groups: 26 patients recovered from mild to moderate COVID-19 in 2020-2021 years (1st group) and 25 patients were not ill COVID-19 (2nd group). The clinical characteristics, laboratory finding, echocardiographic measurement and clinical outcomes were analyzed. Results: There were no significant differences in sex, age, duration of hypertension, frequency of family history of premature CVD and presence of concomitant obesity, DM, CAD, stroke/TIA, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, CKD, PAD and average number of antihypertensive drugs, office systolic BP between the 2 groups. Levels of office diastolic BP by 10 % (P = 0.001) and heart rate by 13 % (P = 0.01) were higher in post COVID-19 group. Low adherence was present at 81.8 % patients 1st group compared with 45 % of 2nd patients group (P = 0.03). Cognitive impairment by the MMSE scale was detected in 68.2 % of COVID-19 recovered patients and 25 % of 2nd patients group (P = 0.03). Fasting glucose by 7.5 % (P = 0.046), 24-h albuminuria in 1.8 times (P = 0.049), level of CRP by 38.5 % (P = 0.04) were higher and blood concentration of endothelial progenitor cells (CD133+CD31+CD45-/+) by 14, 9 % (P = 0.04), left ventricular ejection fraction by 10 % (P = 0.03) were lower in post COVID-19 patients than in patients of 2nd group. Conclusions: The study indicate that the changes were found in the hypertensive patients after 1.2 ± 0.3 years of recovery from COVID-19. In the future these may signal an increased risk for incidence of CV outcomes. Cognitive dysfunction and possibly as a consequence poor adherence to antihypertensive treatment contribute to negative outcomes.