{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T07:59:42Z","timestamp":1770969582292,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,9]],"date-time":"2021-06-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1623196800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We evaluated vascular dysfunction with the single passive leg movement test (sPLM) in 22 frail elderly patients at 84 + 31 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 pneumonia, compared to 22 age-, sex- and comorbidity-matched controls (CTRL). At rest, all COVID-19 patients were in stable clinical condition without severe comorbidities. Patients (aged 72 \u00b1 6 years, 73% male) had moderate disability (Barthel index score 77 \u00b1 26), hypoxemia and normocapnia at arterial blood gas analysis and mild pulmonary restriction at spirometry. Values of circulating markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein: CRP; erythrocyte sedimentation rate: ESR) and coagulation (D-dimer) were: 27.13 \u00b1 37.52 mg\/dL, 64.24 \u00b1 32.37 mm\/1 h and 1043 \u00b1 729 ng\/mL, respectively. At rest, femoral artery diameter was similar in COVID-19 and CTRL (p = 0.16). On the contrary, COVID-19 infection deeply impacted blood velocity (p = 0.001) and femoral blood flow (p &lt; 0.0001). After sPLM, peak femoral blood flow was dramatically reduced in COVID-19 compared to CTRL (p = 0.001), as was blood flow \u2206peak (p = 0.05) and the area under the curve (p &lt; 0.0001). This altered vascular responsiveness could be one of the unknown components of long COVID-19 syndrome leading to fatigue, changes in muscle metabolism and fibers\u2019 composition, exercise intolerance and increased cardiovascular risk. Impact of specific treatments, such as exercise training, dietary supplements or drugs, should be evaluated.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm10122558","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,9]],"date-time":"2021-06-09T14:16:04Z","timestamp":1623248164000},"page":"2558","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Altered Vascular Endothelium-Dependent Responsiveness in Frail Elderly Patients Recovering from COVID-19 Pneumonia: Preliminary Evidence"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3982-2098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mara","family":"Paneroni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 25065 Lumezzane, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2836-4490","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Evasio","family":"Pasini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiac Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 25065 Lumezzane, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9389-7915","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michele","family":"Vitacca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Respiratory Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 25065 Lumezzane, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7387-505X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simonetta","family":"Scalvini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiac Rehabilitation of the Institute of Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 25065 Lumezzane, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6237-4428","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Comini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scientific Direction of the Institute of Lumezzane, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, 25065 Lumezzane, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8888-619X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Pedrinolla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Movement Science, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine, and Movement Science, University of Verona, 37100 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2469-8787","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimo","family":"Venturelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Section of Movement Science, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine, and Movement Science, University of Verona, 37100 Verona, Italy"},{"name":"Section of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"(2021). 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