Key result
Acute COVID-19 linked to ~24% higher baPWV vs controls, reflecting increased arterial stiffness.
Why the study?
COVID-19 interferes with the vascular endothelium, but whether it additionally affects arterial stiffness is not known.
Does acute COVID-19 infection increase arterial stiffness in acutely ill patients?
Case-Control (n=44)
Does acute COVID-19 infection increase arterial stiffness in acutely ill patients?
Acute COVID-19 infection is associated with increased arterial stiffness, which may correlate with longer hospital stays and higher mortality.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May identify higher-risk acute COVID-19 patients; leaves open causality, reversibility, and prognostic utility.
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) interferes with the vascular endothelium. It is not known whether COVID-19 additionally affects arterial stiffness. METHODS: This case-control study compared brachial-ankle pulse wave (baPWV) and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocities (cfPWV) of acutely ill patients with and without COVID-19. RESULTS: Twenty-two COVID-19 patients (50% females, 77 [67-84] years) were compared with 22 age- and sex-matched controls. In COVID-19 patients, baPWV (19.9 [18.4-21.0] vs. 16.0 [14.2-20.4], P = 0.02) and cfPWV (14.3 [13.4-16.0] vs. 11.0 [9.5-14.6], P = 0.01) were higher than in the controls. In multiple regression analysis, COVID-19 was independently associated with higher cfPWV (β = 3.164, P = 0.004) and baPWV (β = 3.532, P = 0.003). PWV values were higher in nonsurvivors. In survivors, PWV correlated with length of hospital stay. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 appears to be related to an enhanced PWV reflecting an increase in arterial stiffness. Higher PWV might be related to an increased length of hospital stay and mortality.
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Schnaubelt et al. (2021) conducted a case-control in Acute COVID-19 (n=44). Acute COVID-19 vs. Age- and sex-matched controls without COVID-19 was evaluated on Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) (β = 3.532, p=0.02). Acute COVID-19 was associated with significantly higher brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity compared to matched controls (19.9 vs 16.0, P=0.02), reflecting increased arterial stiffness.
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