key: cord-0767621-avwk4fwi
authors: Roncon, Loris; Zuin, Marco; Zuliani, Giovanni; Rigatelli, Gianluca
title: Patients with arterial hypertension and COVID-19 are at higher risk of ICU admission
date: 2020-04-27
journal: Br J Anaesth
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2020.04.056
sha: f21d2928591c8ba2d054b39e0466b81c884b1fb9
doc_id: 767621
cord_uid: avwk4fwi

nan

to ICU. The identification of studies to be included in our analysis was independently conducted by two authors (LR and GR) in a blinded fashion. Any discrepancies in study selection was resolved in consultation with a third author (MZ). The following MeSH terms were used for the search: "COVID-19" AND "ICU" OR "hypertension". We searched the bibliographies of target studies for additional references. Case reports review articles, abstracts, editorials/letters, and case series with less than 10 participants were excluded. Studies that compared the prevalance of arterial hypertension between hospitalized patients who required ICU care and those who did not were included in the meta-analysis. The quality of included studies was graded using the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale (NOS) [3] . Data were pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel random effects models with odds ratio (OR) as the effect measure with the related 95% confidence interval (CI).

Statistical heterogeneity between groups was measured using the Higgins I 2 statistic. To evaluate publication bias, if any, Egger's test was performed to assess asymmetry of the funnel plot. Analyses were carried out using Review Manager 5.2 (The Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK).

A total of 41 articles were retrieved after excluding duplicates. After initial screening, 25 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving 16 articles to assess for eligibility. After evaluation of the full-text articles, 12 articles including editorial/letter, reviews, case reports, and investigations not in English were excluded. Our brief meta-analysis suggests that hypertensive patients with COVID-19 have a greater risk of ICU admission. This has potentially important implications in clinical practice. A recent report from Italy suggests 3 that the prevalence of arterial hypertension is significantly higher amongst COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU who do not survive. [7] . 

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. 

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