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

Aims: Coronavirus-19 infection (COVID-19) continues to spread throughout the world. It is known that among patients with hypertension, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, or cardiovascular (CV) diseases, COVID-19 is associated with greater morbidity and mortality compared to 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 anti-hypertensive 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 anti-hypertensive medication. Methods and results: Several databases were searched to identify relevant literature. A few anti-hypertensive 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 mostly used to treat COVID-19. Conclusions: The current indication 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.