Hypertensive urgencies during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital setting: a U-shaped alarming curve

Introduction Corona virus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic provoked unprecedented disturbance in hypertension care, while alarming concerns arose about its long-term consequences. We assessed the impact of COVID-19 spread on population behavior regarding hypertension urgencies during its first wave. Material and methods Data from daily unscheduled visits and admission counts in the Cardiology sector were collected from the Emergency Department database of a tertiary General Hospital in Athens, Greece from January 15th-July 15th 2020. This data was compared with the ones from the previous year. Cases presented with hypertensive urgency or admitted due to uncontrolled hypertension were separately analyzed. Results A total of 7,373 patients records were analyzed. Hypertension urgency cases demonstrated a “U” shaped distribution in 2020, showing declining trend during the rapid virus spread, an image that was reversed after the transmission rate’s fade. COVID-19 incidence in Greece was inversely associated with uncontrolled hypertension admissions during its declining phase (r=-0.64 p=0.009), whereas total attendance exhibited a similar correlation during the first and the following months of the pandemic (r=0.677, p=0.031, r=-0.789, p=0.001). Uncontrolled hypertension rate on admission was positively related to the national incidence of COVID-19 cases during the first months of 2020 (r= 0.82, p=0.045). Conclusions Hypertensive urgency-related visits followed a “U” shape distribution during the pandemic’s first wave with attendance nadir coincidence to the virus spread peak. The initial relative increase in uncontrolled hypertension-related admissions rate, combined with the later increment of hypertensive urgencies may indicate blood pressure deregulation among the studied population which is multifactorial and potentially detrimental.