COVID-19 and vascular disease

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was originally characterised as a novel respiratory coronavirus and was thought to primarily target pulmonary tissues in infected patients, similar to its close relative SARS-CoV, which was responsible for the epidemic of SARS in 2003. This preconception turned out to be an underestimation. Although SARS-CoV-2 does indeed infect pulmonary epithelial cells, it might also infect many other cell types, causing systematic inflammation with cytokine release and affecting multiple critical organs besides the lungs in severe cases.