AIIMS Patna study finds arterial stiffness in corona patients

PATNA:  A study has found that arterial stiffness is being noticed beyond the normal limit among moderate and severe patients of Covid-19. This poses a threat to the patients’ cardiovascular health and kidney function.

This non-randomised observational research is titled “To study the relationship of COVID-19 severity with arterial stiffness: A prospective cross sectional study or COSEVAST study”. It was carried out by a group of doctors at the Patna–based All India Institute of Medical Sciences in three months during the peak of the pandemic. It has found cases of arterial stiffness in a majority of Covid-19 patients.

 Dr Neeraj Kumar, who headed the study as assistant professor  of trauma and emergency, said: “It has been found that Covid patients admitted to hospital are showing arterial damages and developing cases of hyper tension, diabetes and  cardiovascular diseases.”

Quoting from the study, he added arterial health mainly depends on the integrity of innermost layer called the endothelial cells layer. “Since endothelial layer is present everywhere throughout the vascular system, sudden failure of endothelial layer function due to COVID-19 may lead to sudden severe conditions in various organs,” he said.