MANAGEMENT OF SACUBITRIL/VALSARTAN COMBINATION IN AN END-STAGE HEART FAILURE PATIENT HOSPITALIZED FOR COVID-19 PNEUMONIA: SHOULD WE WITHDRAW TEMPORARILY OR CONTINUE?

ALİ ÇONER, CİHAN ALTIN

Journal of Clinical Practice and Research - 2021;43(6):617-619

Department of Cardiology, Başkent University Hospital Alanya Application and Research Center, Antalya, Turkey

 

Background: Many factors were blamed for the worse prognosis in COVID-19. Heart failure patients are thought to be un-der increased risk because of either immune-compromised basal status or possible interaction of viral infection with on-going medications, such as the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers. Sacubitril is a neprilysin inhibitor and its’ combination with valsartan is recommended as a novel medication for heart failure. Case Report: A 71 years of age female with end-stage heart failure was hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia. She was under sacubitril/valsartan combination for the heart failure, and at the end of the first week of hospitalization, clinical and laboratory parameters recovered uneventfully. Sacubitril/valsartan therapy was continued without complications during the in-hospital course. Conclusion: Specific therapies for heart failure should not be withdrawn in COVID-19. To our knowledge, this is the first case report documenting the clinical progress of a COVID-19 pneumonia patient who was already under sacubitril/valsartan treatment.