Open AccessEndothelial dysfunction in COVID-19 patients assessed with Endo-PAT2000
Author(s) -
Giuliana Cimino,
Enrico Vizzardi,
Emiliano Calvi,
Edoardo Pancaldi,
Greta Pascariello,
Nicola Bernardi,
Angelica Cersosimo,
Ludovica Amore,
Riccardo M. Inciardi,
Riccardo Raddino,
Marco Metra
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
monaldi archives for chest disease. pulmonary series/monaldi archives for chest disease/monaldi archives for chest disease. cardiac series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.196
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 2465-101X
pISSN - 1122-0643
DOI - 10.4081/monaldi.2022.2213
Subject(s) - endothelial dysfunction , medicine , covid-19 , coronavirus , endothelium , endothelial stem cell , cardiology , vasodilation , disease , in vitro , biology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , biochemistry
It has been widely reported that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) attaches human cells by using the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, but vascular impairment described during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is primarily due to the direct involvement of the endothelial cells by the virus or secondarily to the inflammatory host response is currently unknown. We therefore aimed to demonstrate in vivo the presence of endothelial dysfunction in six COVID-19 patients without cardiovascular risk factors or pre-existing cardiac condition, using the Endo-PAT 2000, a device able to measure endothelial vasodilation function in a rapid and non-invasive way. Four patients were positive for endothelial dysfunction, with RHI values between 1.13-1.56 (average value 1.32, normal values >1.67); in one of the two negative patients the reported RHI value was slightly above the cutoff (1.72). Our findings confirm that COVID-19 patients are at higher risk of developing endothelial dysfunction. In addition, our results demonstrate that endothelial impairment may occur even in the absence of cardiovascular risk factors.