Abstract
Background: COVID-19 patients may develop atherosclerosis-related complications. Whether a proportion of these patients already had asymptomatic cervicocephalic atherosclerosis before SARS-CoV-2 infection is not known. This study assessed whether pre-existing cervicocephalic atherosclerosis increased the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection or resulted in more severe or fatal COVID-19.
Methods: Individuals enrolled in the Atahualpa Project cohort who received head CT (for assessing carotid siphon calcifications) and B-mode ultrasounds (for measurement of the carotid intima-media thickness) prior to the pandemic were eligible for this study. Among this cohort, those who also received serological tests for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and clinical evaluations for assessment of COVID-19 severity were enrolled. Multivariate logistic regression and exposure-effect models were fitted to assess the association between pre-existing atherosclerosis biomarkers, and SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and COVID-19 severity.
Results: Overall, 154 of 519 study participants (30%) had evidence of cervicocephalic atherosclerosis. A total of 325 (63%) individuals became SARS-CoV-2 positive, and 65 (23.5%) of seropositive individuals had severe or fatal COVID-19. The risk of SARS-CoV-2 seropositive status did not differ across individuals with and without atherosclerosis biomarkers ( P = .360). Likewise, seropositive individuals with pre-existing atherosclerosis were not more prone to develop severe or fatal COVID-19 than those without evidence of atherosclerosis ( P = .274). Average estimated exposure effects of pre-existing cervicocephalic atherosclerosis versus no atherosclerosis over SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and COVID-19 severity were not significant.
Conclusions: Pre-existing cervicocephalic atherosclerosis does not increase the risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection nor the severity of COVID-19 among seropositive individuals.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cervicocephalic atherosclerosis; population-based study; risk factors.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Risk factors, population-based study, cervicocephalic atherosclerosis, 【초록키워드】 serological test, pandemic, Biomarker, Biomarkers, Risk factors, SARS-COV-2 infection, susceptibility, COVID-19 severity, risk, Cohort, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, Serological tests, SARS-CoV-2 antibody, Asymptomatic, clinical evaluation, severity of COVID-19, Atherosclerosis, Patient, Logistic regression, Seropositivity, complications, association, Evidence, COVID-19 patient, evidence of, not significant, individual, multivariate logistic regression, Study participants, multivariate, fatal COVID-19, clinical evaluations, positive, seropositive individuals, Effect, seropositive status, Carotid siphon, enrolled, not differ, develop, proportion, study participant, Atahualpa, B-mode ultrasound, carotid, eligible, seropositive individual,