Management of pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders in patients infected with SARS CoV-2: pharmacological and clinical issues

Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Pharmacother. 2021 Jul 23;7(4):346-351. doi: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvaa105.

Abstract

Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) continues to spread throughout the world. It is known that among patients with hypertension, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cardiovascular diseases, COVID-19 is associated with greater morbidity and mortality compared with patients without these conditions. This correlation is of great importance in pregnant women affected by COVID-19, since it usually leads to the development of a serious clinical complication. In particular, managing hypertensive disorders in pregnancy can be problematic because antihypertensive medications may interact pharmacologically with drugs used to treat COVID-19. This review focuses on the safety of drug treatment for COVID-19 in pregnant women treated with antihypertensive medication. Several databases were searched to identify relevant literature. A few antihypertensive drugs and antithrombotic treatments are known for having a beneficial effect in the management of hypertension and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. In this review, we focus on the expected drug-drug interactions with the experimental agents most often used to treat COVID-19. The current indications for the management of hypertension-related disorders in pregnancy maintain their validity, while the risk of pharmacological interaction with the currently tested anti-SARS-CoV-2 medications is relatively low.

Keywords: Antihypertensive treatment; COVID-19; Coronavirus-19; Hypertension; Pregnancy; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antihypertensive Agents / adverse effects
  • Antihypertensive Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Antiviral Agents / adverse effects
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use*
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • COVID-19 Drug Treatment*
  • Drug Interactions
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / diagnosis
  • Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / drug therapy*
  • Hypertension, Pregnancy-Induced / physiopathology
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / diagnosis
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / drug therapy*
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / virology
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors

Substances

  • Antihypertensive Agents
  • Antiviral Agents