Association of Use of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers With Testing Positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Neil Mehta, MBBS1; Ankur Kalra, MD2,3; Amy S. Nowacki, PhD4; et alScott Anjewierden, BS1; Zheyi Han, BS1; Pavan Bhat, MD2; Andres E. Carmona-Rubio, MD2; Miriam Jacob, MD2; Gary W. Procop, MD5; Susan Harrington, PhD5; Alex Milinovich, BA4; Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD6; Lara Jehi, MD7; James B. Young, MD1,2; Mina K. Chung, MD2,8
Author Affiliations Article Information
JAMA Cardiol. Published online May 5, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2020.1855
Abstract
Importance The role of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) in the setting of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is hotly debated. There have been recommendations to discontinue these medications, which are essential in the treatment of several chronic disease conditions, while, in the absence of clinical evidence, professional societies have advocated their continued use.
Objective To study the association between use of ACEIs/ARBs with the likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 and to study outcome data in subsets of patients taking ACEIs/ARBs who tested positive with severity of clinical outcomes of COVID-19 (eg, hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and requirement for mechanical ventilation).