Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.

<h4>Objective</h4>Describe the histological findings of minimally ultrasound-guided invasive autopsies in deceased patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 and compare the diagnostic yield with open autopsies.<h4>Design</h4>Observational post-mortem cohort study. Minimally invasive ul...

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Main Authors: Carlos Nava-Santana, María Rodríguez-Armida, José Víctor Jiménez, Nancy Vargas-Parra, Diana E Aguilar León, Alejandro Campos-Murguia, Ricardo Macías-Rodriguez, Andrés Arteaga-Garrido, Antonio C Hernández-Villegas, Guillermo Dominguez-Cherit, Eduardo Rivero-Sigarroa, Armando Gamboa-Dominguez, Alfonso Gullias-Herrero, José Sifuentes-Osornio, Norma Ofelia Uribe-Uribe, Luis E Morales-Buenrostro
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262783&type=printable
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author Carlos Nava-Santana
María Rodríguez-Armida
José Víctor Jiménez
Nancy Vargas-Parra
Diana E Aguilar León
Alejandro Campos-Murguia
Ricardo Macías-Rodriguez
Andrés Arteaga-Garrido
Antonio C Hernández-Villegas
Guillermo Dominguez-Cherit
Eduardo Rivero-Sigarroa
Armando Gamboa-Dominguez
Alfonso Gullias-Herrero
José Sifuentes-Osornio
Norma Ofelia Uribe-Uribe
Luis E Morales-Buenrostro
author_facet Carlos Nava-Santana
María Rodríguez-Armida
José Víctor Jiménez
Nancy Vargas-Parra
Diana E Aguilar León
Alejandro Campos-Murguia
Ricardo Macías-Rodriguez
Andrés Arteaga-Garrido
Antonio C Hernández-Villegas
Guillermo Dominguez-Cherit
Eduardo Rivero-Sigarroa
Armando Gamboa-Dominguez
Alfonso Gullias-Herrero
José Sifuentes-Osornio
Norma Ofelia Uribe-Uribe
Luis E Morales-Buenrostro
author_sort Carlos Nava-Santana
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objective</h4>Describe the histological findings of minimally ultrasound-guided invasive autopsies in deceased patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 and compare the diagnostic yield with open autopsies.<h4>Design</h4>Observational post-mortem cohort study. Minimally invasive ultrasound-guided autopsies were performed in fourteen deceased patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Histological and clinical findings of lung, kidney, and liver tissue are described and contrasted with those previously reported in the literature.<h4>Setting</h4>Single-center COVID-19 reference center in Mexico City.<h4>Results</h4>Fourteen minimally invasive autopsies revealed a gross correlation with open autopsies reports: 1) Lung histology was characterized mainly by early diffuse alveolar damage (12/13). Despite low lung compliances and prolonged mechanical ventilation, the fibrotic phase was rarely observed (2/13). 2) Kidney histopathology demonstrated acute tubular injury (12/13), interstitial nephritis (11/13), and glomerulitis (11/13) as the predominant features 3) Liver histology was characterized by neutrophilic inflammation in all of the cases, as well as hepatic necrosis (8/14) despite minimal alterations in liver function testing. Hepatic steatosis was observed in most cases (12/14). SARS-CoV-2 positivity was widely observed throughout the immunohistochemical analysis. However, endothelitis and micro thrombosis, two of the hallmark features of the disease, were not observed.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Our data represents the largest minimally invasive, ultrasound-guided autopsy report. We demonstrate a gross histological correlation with large open autopsy cohorts. However, this approach might overlook major histologic features of the disease, such as endothelitis and micro-thrombosis. Whether this represents sampling bias is unclear.
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spelling doaj-art-f28a1ea697a24e0a9f3b6bb068ed039d2025-08-20T03:16:29ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01173e026278310.1371/journal.pone.0262783Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.Carlos Nava-SantanaMaría Rodríguez-ArmidaJosé Víctor JiménezNancy Vargas-ParraDiana E Aguilar LeónAlejandro Campos-MurguiaRicardo Macías-RodriguezAndrés Arteaga-GarridoAntonio C Hernández-VillegasGuillermo Dominguez-CheritEduardo Rivero-SigarroaArmando Gamboa-DominguezAlfonso Gullias-HerreroJosé Sifuentes-OsornioNorma Ofelia Uribe-UribeLuis E Morales-Buenrostro<h4>Objective</h4>Describe the histological findings of minimally ultrasound-guided invasive autopsies in deceased patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 and compare the diagnostic yield with open autopsies.<h4>Design</h4>Observational post-mortem cohort study. Minimally invasive ultrasound-guided autopsies were performed in fourteen deceased patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Histological and clinical findings of lung, kidney, and liver tissue are described and contrasted with those previously reported in the literature.<h4>Setting</h4>Single-center COVID-19 reference center in Mexico City.<h4>Results</h4>Fourteen minimally invasive autopsies revealed a gross correlation with open autopsies reports: 1) Lung histology was characterized mainly by early diffuse alveolar damage (12/13). Despite low lung compliances and prolonged mechanical ventilation, the fibrotic phase was rarely observed (2/13). 2) Kidney histopathology demonstrated acute tubular injury (12/13), interstitial nephritis (11/13), and glomerulitis (11/13) as the predominant features 3) Liver histology was characterized by neutrophilic inflammation in all of the cases, as well as hepatic necrosis (8/14) despite minimal alterations in liver function testing. Hepatic steatosis was observed in most cases (12/14). SARS-CoV-2 positivity was widely observed throughout the immunohistochemical analysis. However, endothelitis and micro thrombosis, two of the hallmark features of the disease, were not observed.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Our data represents the largest minimally invasive, ultrasound-guided autopsy report. We demonstrate a gross histological correlation with large open autopsy cohorts. However, this approach might overlook major histologic features of the disease, such as endothelitis and micro-thrombosis. Whether this represents sampling bias is unclear.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262783&type=printable
spellingShingle Carlos Nava-Santana
María Rodríguez-Armida
José Víctor Jiménez
Nancy Vargas-Parra
Diana E Aguilar León
Alejandro Campos-Murguia
Ricardo Macías-Rodriguez
Andrés Arteaga-Garrido
Antonio C Hernández-Villegas
Guillermo Dominguez-Cherit
Eduardo Rivero-Sigarroa
Armando Gamboa-Dominguez
Alfonso Gullias-Herrero
José Sifuentes-Osornio
Norma Ofelia Uribe-Uribe
Luis E Morales-Buenrostro
Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
PLoS ONE
title Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
title_full Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
title_fullStr Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
title_full_unstemmed Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
title_short Clinicopathologic characteristics of severe COVID-19 patients in Mexico City: A post-mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach.
title_sort clinicopathologic characteristics of severe covid 19 patients in mexico city a post mortem analysis using a minimally invasive autopsy approach
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0262783&type=printable
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