Characterisation of cardiac pathology in 23 autopsies of lethal COVID‐19

Autor: Jasmin D Haslbauer, Alexandar Tzankov, Kirsten D Mertz, Nathalie Schwab, Ronny Nienhold, Raphael Twerenbold, Gregor Leibundgut, Anna K Stalder, Matthias Matter, Katharina Glatz
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 326-337 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2056-4538
15480690
DOI: 10.1002/cjp2.212
Popis: Abstract While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) primarily affects the respiratory tract, pathophysiological changes of the cardiovascular system remain to be elucidated. We performed a retrospective cardiopathological analysis of the heart and vasculature from 23 autopsies of COVID‐19 patients, comparing the findings with control tissue. Myocardium from autopsies of COVID‐19 patients was categorised into severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) positive (n = 14) or negative (n = 9) based on the presence of viral RNA as determined by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Control tissue was selected from autopsies without COVID‐19 (n = 10) with similar clinical sequelae. Histological characteristics were scored by ordinal and/or categorical grading. Five RT‐PCR‐positive cases underwent in situ hybridisation (ISH) for SARS‐CoV‐2. Patients with lethal COVID‐19 infection were mostly male (78%) and had a high incidence of hypertension (91%), coronary artery disease (61%), and diabetes mellitus (48%). Patients with positive myocardial RT‐PCR died earlier after hospital admission (5 versus 12 days, p
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