RETRACTED: Coronary arteries and aortic valve calcifications in COVID-19 (Retracted Article)

Purpose High coronary artery calcium score (CACS) and aortic valve calcifications (AC) increase cardiovascular risk. Our purpose is to evaluate CACS, measured by Weston score (WS), and the presence of AC in chest CT of COVID-19 patients and possibly investigate their prognostic role. Methods This retrospective case-control study includes 150 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who underwent a chest CT at admission. The case group (group A) was formed by 50 in-patients in intensive care unit (ICU) under invasive ventilation (IV), while the control group (group B) was formed by 100 in-patients in non-ICU units, not under IV. After, a second case-control selection was originated from these two groups: the case group (group A1) composed by 30 patients, and the matching control group (group B1) composed by 60 patients. WS and the presence of AC were compared between groups A and B, and between groups A1 and B1. Moreover, lung severity score (LSS) and WS were correlated. Results LSS was 7.5 +/- 3.9, and WS was 6.4 +/- 3.0; AC was present in 97/150 (64.7%). WS was significantly higher in group A than in group B, respectively, 7.4 +/- 4.0 and 5.7 +/- 2.6 (p = 0.0146), and also the presence of AC, respectively, 41/50 (82.0%) vs 56/100 (56.0%) (p = 0.0016). Finally, WS and AC were significantly higher in group A1 compared to group B1. Conclusion Both WS and AC were higher in ICU COVID-19 patients than in non-ICU COVID-19 patients.