Baroreflex sensitivity is impaired in survivors of mild COVID-19 at 3-6 months of clinical recovery; association with carotid artery stiffness

The association between the stiffening of barosensitive regions of central arteries and the derangements in baroreflex functions remains unexplored in COVID-19 survivors. Fifty-seven survivors of mild COVID-19 (defined as presence of upper respiratory tract symptoms and/or fever without shortness of breath or hypoxia; SpO2 > 93%), with an age range of 22-66 years (27 females) participated at 3-6 months of recovering from the acute phase of RT-PCR positive COVID-19. Healthy volunteers whose baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and arterial stiffness data were acquired prior to the onset of the pandemic constituted the control group. BRS was found to be significantly lower in the COVID survivor group for the systolic blood pressure-based sequences (BRSSBP) [9.78 (7.16-17.74) ms/mmHg vs 16.5 (11.25-23.78) ms/mmHg; p = 0.0253]. The COVID survivor group showed significantly higher carotid beta stiffness index [7.16 (5.75-8.18) vs 5.64 (4.34-6.96); (p = 0.0004)], and pulse wave velocity beta (PWV beta) [5.67 (4.96-6.32) m/s vs 5.12 (4.37-5.41) m/s; p = 0.0002]. BRS quantified by both the sequence and spectral methods showed an inverse correlation with PWV beta in the male survivors. Impairment of BRS in the male survivors of mild COVID-19 at 3-6 months of clinical recovery shows association with carotid artery stiffness.

Automated summary

The association between the stiffening of barosensitive regions of central arteries and the derangements in baroreflex functions remains unexplored in COVID-19 survivors. This study found that COVID survivors had lower baroreflex sensitivity and higher carotid artery stiffness and pulse wave velocity compared to healthy volunteers. In male survivors, there was a negative correlation between baroreflex sensitivity and pulse wave velocity.