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Updated: May 3, 2026

Visualization of Streptococcus pneumoniae within Cardiac Microlesions and Subsequent Cardiac Remodeling
Published on: April 7, 2015
The association of cardioprotective medications with pneumonia-related outcomes
Albert Wu1, Chester Good2, John R Downs1
1Medical Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America ; Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America.
Introduction:
Little research has examined whether cardiovascular medications, other than statins, are associated with improved outcomes after pneumonia. Our aim was to examine the association between the use of beta-blockers, statins, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) with pneumonia-related outcomes.
Materials And Methods:
We conducted a retrospective population-based study on male patients ≥ 65 years of age hospitalized with pneumonia and who did not have pre-existing cardiac disease. Our primary analyses were multilevel regression models that examined the association between cardiovascular medication classes and either mortality or cardiovascular events.
Results:
Our cohort included 21,985 patients: 22% died within 90 days of admission, and 22% had a cardiac event within 90 days. The cardiovascular medications studied that were associated with decreased 90-day mortality included: statins (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.63-0.77), ACE inhibitors (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.74-0.91), and ARBs (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.44-0.77). However, none of the medications were significantly associated with decreased cardiovascular events.
Discussion:
While statins, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs, were associated with decreased mortality, there was no significant association with decreased CV events. These results indicate that this decreased mortality is unlikely due to their potential cardioprotective effects.
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