Vascular Function, Mortality and COVID-19

AJP-Heart and Circulatory Physiology Podcasts

First, a thank you to frontline healthcare workers, clinical researchers, and one determined master’s student Michelle Cristina-Oliveira of the Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo for their bravery and dedication to science and medicine! In this episode we bring you a conversation between Associate Editor Dr. Jason Carter (Montana State University), lead author Dr. Tiago Pecanha (Universidade de São Paulo, and Manchester Metropolitan University), and expert Dr. Paul Fadel (The University of Texas at Arlington). From June 2020 to May 2021 first author Michelle Cristina-Oliveira screened over 600 patients at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo, Brazil in order to enroll 211 COVID-19 patients within 72 hours of hospital admission. The authors sought to determine whether brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and carotid intima-media thickness measured upon hospital admission were associated with acute outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Based on initial case reports, Cristina-Oliveira et al. felt that the endothelium could be an important target for SARS-CoV2. The authors hypothesized that measuring markers of endothelial function and atherosclerosis upon hospital admission could provide critically important information about potential risks of mortality, admission to ICU, and requirement for mechanical ventilation. Did the authors find that endothelial function and atherosclerosis were useful in predicting major clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients? This study lends further insight into understanding the role of reduced flow mediated dilation in mediating the negative effects of COVID on cardiovascular health. Listen to find out why.

Michelle Cristina-Oliveira, Kamila Meireles, Saulo Gil, Fábio Cavalcante Assis, João Carlos Geber-Júnior, Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo, Heraldo Possolo de Souza, Alfredo Nicodemos Cruz Santana, Paul A. Swinton, Luciano F. Drager, Bruno Gualano, Hamilton Roschel, and Tiago Peçanha Carotid intima-media thickness and flow-mediated dilation do not predict acute in-hospital outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published April 22, 2022. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00026.2022