Study by Zurich researchers reveals that COVID-19 is much more than just pneumonia

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A study by researchers from Zurich reveals that COVID-19 is much more than just pneumonia: it is a systemic vascular inflammation. It thus causes many cardiovascular problems and failures of vital organs.

The first patients were mostly suffering from hard-to-treat pneumonia, the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) said in a statement. Thereafter, doctors discovered more and more cases of cardiovascular disorders and multiple organ failures unrelated to pneumonia.

For this reason, Zsuzsanna Varga’s team at the USZ studied tissue samples from deceased patients under a microscope and discovered that the inflammation affected the endothelium – the inner lining of blood vessels – of different organs.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in the endothelium itself, where it kills the cells, then the affected tissues and organs. Scientists have concluded that the virus attacks the immune system not by the lungs, but directly by the ACE2 receptors present in the endothelium, which thus loses its protective function.

All affected organs

“Covid-19 disease can affect the blood vessels of all organs,” says Frank Ruschitzka, director of the USZ Cardiology Clinic, who now suggests calling this clinical picture “Covidian endotheliitis”.

It is a systemic inflammation of the blood vessels that can affect the heart, brain, lungs, kidneys or even the digestive tract. It causes severe microperturbations in the bloodstream that can damage the heart or cause pulmonary embolism, or even block blood vessels in the brain or gastrointestinal system, says USZ.

If the endothelium of young patients defends itself well, this is not the case for the risk groups suffering from hypertension, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, the common characteristic of which is the reduction of endothelial function.

Therapeutically, this means fighting against the multiplication of the virus and at the same time protecting and stabilizing the vascular system of patients, concludes Professor Ruschitzka, quoted in the press release. These works are published in the British medical journal “The Lancet”.

A virus like no other

Other research published in the journal “Science” goes in the same direction, evoking a systemic disease and a virus which acts in a way different from all the other pathogens observed until now.

Kidney, brain and central nervous system damage has been reported, as well as seizures, encephalitis and stroke in patients who have recovered. The intestines, rich in ACE2 receptors, constitute another front of attack: half of the patients suffer from diarrhea. The eyes and liver are also affected.

source: ats