Observational studyEuropean heart journal2025
Accelerated vascular ageing after COVID-19 infection: the CARTESIAN study.
Observational study in European heart journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Symptomatology of Long COVID Associated with Inherited and Acquired Thrombophilic Conditions: A Systematic Review.Viruses · 2025Pooled it
- Microvascular remodeling and endothelial dysfunction across the post-COVID-19 spectrum: a prospective observational case-control study.BMC medicine · 2026Observational
- Exercise and Cardiovascular Risk Modulation in Post-COVID Syndrome.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- COVID-19 advanced cardiovascular and clinical phenotyping dataset.Data in brief · 2026Article
- Review
- Dietary Mineral Intake and Vascular Health in Patients with Long COVID-19: The BioICOPER Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Adoptive T-cell therapies for persistent COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients: Comparison of IFN-γ virus-specific T-cell therapy and CD45RAGeroScience · 2026Article
- Time-Critical Cardiovascular Risk After COVID-19: A Population-Based Analysis Across Variant Eras.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Innovations, quality & outcomes · 2026Article
- Beyond recovery: long-term cardiovascular risks after severe COVID-19 requiring intensive care.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Article
- Intranasal Anti-CD3 Antibody Treatment Attenuates Post-COVID Neuroinflammation and Enhances Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Cognitive Function in Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Changes in cardiovascular health and physical functioning in non-hospitalized, adult COVID-19 patients after 3 years of follow-up.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Multilayer metabolomic integration reveals bioenergetic disruption in Long COVID.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Long COVID Does Not Impair Hemodynamic, Vascular, or Autonomic Responses to Maximal Exercise: Sex-Stratified Study in Young Adults.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Morphological and Immunohistochemical Characteristics of Liver Inflammation in Patients with a History of COVID-19.Viruses · 2026Article
- Unraveling the cardiovascular burden of long COVID: symptom profiles, underlying mechanisms, and clinical management insights.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Review
- The Central Role of Macrophages in Long COVID Pathophysiology.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Peripheral Artery Disease in US Primary Care Practices: A Retrospective EHR-Based Analysis from 2018 to 2022.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- COVID-19 induces greater difficulty in blood pressure control due to increased arterial stiffness.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
30 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsIncreasing evidence suggests that COVID-19 survivors experience long-term cardiovascular complications possibly through development of vascular damage. The study aimed to investigate whether accelerated vascular ageing occurs after COVID-19 infection, and if so, identify its determinants.
methodsThis prospective, multicentric, cohort study, included 34 centres in 16 countries worldwide, in 4 groups of participants-COVID-19-negative controls (ⅰ) and three groups of individuals with recent (6 ± 3 months) exposure to SARS-CoV-2: not hospitalized (ⅱ), hospitalized in general wards (ⅲ), and hospitalized in intensive care units (ⅳ). The main outcome was carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), an established biomarker of large artery stiffness.
results2390 individuals (age 50 ± 15 years, 49.2% women) were recruited. After adjustment for confounders, all COVID-19-positive groups showed higher PWV (+0.41, +0.37, and +0.40 m/s for groups 2-4, P < .001, P = .001 and P = .003) vs. controls [PWV 7.53 (7.09; 7.97) m/s adjusted mean (95% CI)]. In sex-stratified analyses, PWV differences were significant in women [PWV (+0.55, +0.60, and +1.09 m/s for groups 2-4, P < .001 for all)], but not in men. Among COVID-19 positive women, persistent symptoms were associated with higher PWV, regardless of disease severity and cardiovascular confounders [adjusted PWV 7.52 (95% CI 7.09; 7.96) vs. 7.13 (95% CI 6.67; 7.59) m/s, P < .001]. A stable or improved PWV after 12 months was found in the COVID+ groups, whereas a progression was observed in the COVID- group.
conclusionsCOVID-19 is associated with early vascular ageing in the long term, especially in women.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.