Abstract
At the moment of writing this communication, the health crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than 120 million cases, with 40 million corresponding to Europe. In total, the number of deaths is almost 3 million, but continuously rising. Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, SARS-CoV-2 infects also endothelial cells in the pulmonary capillaries. This affects the integrity of the endothelium and increases vascular permeability. In addition, there are serious indirect consequences, like disruption of endothelial cells’ junctions leading to micro-bleeds and uncontrolled blood clotting. The impact of COVID-19 in people with rare chronic cardiovascular diseases is unknown so far, and interesting to assess, because the virus may cause additional complications in these patients. The aim of the present work was to study the COVID-19 infection among the patients with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT). A retrospective study was carried out in a 138 HHT patients’ sample attending an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) reference consult. The evaluation of the COVID-19 infection in them reveals milder symptoms; among the 25 HHT patients who were infected, only 3 cases were hospitalized, and none of them required ICU or ventilation assistance. The results are discussed in the light of macrophage immune response.
Highlights
At the time of writing this communication, the health crisis derived from the SARSCoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected more than 120 million confirmed cases, among these, 40 million corresponding to Europe
The Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) patients attending the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) consult of Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón (HUFA) come from all over Spain, and they are representative of the clinical spectrum of HHT patients in Spain, concerning type of HHT, the degree of visceral involvement (AVMs) and a broad range of HHT-ESS, from severe to mild [16]
Data from the whole group of 138 patients attending the ENT reference consult are not, in general, different from the 25 HHT patients who tested positive for COVID-19, concerning the degree of HHT symptoms
Summary
At the time of writing this communication, the health crisis derived from the SARSCoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected more than 120 million confirmed cases, among these, 40 million corresponding to Europe. Almost 3 million deaths have been registered, leading to a sanitary and economic crisis worldwide. The incidence of infection is 6.78% of the whole population [1]. The gateway for the infection is the pharyngeal and nasal mucosa, where the virus enters through aerosol transmission or direct contact. The virus penetrates the mucosal epithelium and the endothelium through the ACE2 receptor (angiotensin convertase 2) [2]
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