Accelerated vascular ageing after COVID-19 infection: the CARTESIAN study

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Conflicts of Interest

Identified Weaknesses

Rating Explanation

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Paper Summary

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COVID-19 Makes Your Blood Vessels Older, Especially in Women (But It's Probably Not Permanent)

This large, multinational study found that COVID-19 infection is linked to faster aging of blood vessels, especially in women, as measured by pulse wave velocity. The effect was seen even in people who weren't hospitalized for COVID-19, and it seems to partially reverse after a year. The study was observational and lacked baseline data, making it hard to rule out pre-existing conditions or other factors contributing to vascular aging.

Possible Conflicts of Interest

The study received funding from several organizations, including The Artery Society and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Some devices were provided on free loan by manufacturers like IEM GmbH, Quipu srl, AtCor Medical, and Visualsonics Fujifilm, which could potentially represent a conflict of interest, though seemingly minimal. No other conflicts were explicitly declared.

Identified Weaknesses

Potential for reverse causality

The study started 6 months after COVID-19 infection. It's impossible to know if the vascular aging pre-dated COVID-19, or if it was caused by the infection itself.

Control group not adequately matched

The control group was not well matched to the COVID-19 positive groups, which could have introduced bias into the results.

Observational study design

The study relied on observational data, which may not fully capture the relationship between vaccination, COVID-19 outcomes, and vascular aging.

Lack of baseline data

The study did not measure vascular aging before the pandemic, making it difficult to definitively attribute changes to COVID-19.

Rating Explanation

This is a large, multinational study using a reliable method for measuring vascular aging. While there are limitations due to its observational design and lack of baseline data, the findings are important and potentially contribute to our understanding of long-term COVID-19 effects. The study's large sample size, follow-up data, and standardized methodology strengthen its conclusions.

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