SARS-CoV-2 infection is linked with early vascular aging in the long term, especially in women, according to a recent study in the European Heart Journal.

In the multicenter CARTESIAN study, researchers found all individuals with COVID, including those with mild cases, had stiffer arteries, as shown by increased carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, than did those who had not been infected, according to Rosa Maria Bruno, MD, PhD, professor at Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre-PARCC, Paris, France, who led the study.

“You are as old as your arteries, meaning that your blood vessels can be older than your chronological age,” increasing the risk for heart disease, Bruno said.

For the study, Bruno and colleagues categorized 2390 individuals (mean age, 50 years; 49.2% women) from 16 countries into four groups: those who never had COVID, those who had recent COVID but were not hospitalized, those hospitalized for COVID in a general ward, and those hospitalized for COVID in an ICU. They assessed pulse wave velocity, which served as the main outcome, at 6 and 12 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Data showed pulse wave velocity was 0.41 m/sec higher for those with COVID who were not hospitalized, 0.37 m/sec higher for those with COVID who were hospitalized in general wards, and 0.4 m/sec higher for those with COVID who were hospitalized in ICUs.