Stiffness of arteries could indicate severe COVID-19 risk: Study.

ISLAMABAD -- Assessing the stiffness of the arteries could help identify patients most at risk of dying from COVID-19, new research has revealed.

Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV) -- a readily available marker of aortic stiffening -- has been shown to be an effective addition in identifying patients at risk of death inhospital due to the virus.

Accurate risk stratification at hospital admission of these patients is of utmost clinical importance as it is needed to guide therapeutic strategies, suggest researchers in the paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

A team led by Newcastle University researchers demonstrated that ePWV provides an additional clinical tool to refine risk stratification of hospitalised patients beyond established risk factors and scores, Medical Daily reported.

The study included 1,671 people from the UK, Italy and Greece.

It was found that the addition of ePWV to clinical predictive markers or a validated mortality score improved the prognostic value for in-hospital mortality and therefore, could facilitate therapeutic decisions in...