Study Design and Participants
In this retrospective cohort study, we included 198 consecutive COVID-19
patients with a history of hypertension who were admitted between
December 26, 2019, and March 6, 2020, at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan
University and Wuhan Fourth Hospital in Wuhan city, China. We did not
exclude patients who needed to discontinue antihypertensive medications
due to hypotension, not being able to take oral medicines, or had an
increase in their serum creatinine level. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was
according to the World Health Organization (WHO) interim
guidance8. RT-PCR assay was performed to confirm the
COVID-19 diagnosis when necessary, based on the WHO established
protocol. The local institutional review boards approved this study, and
informed consent was obtained from patients or their legal
representatives.