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Pathological Insights into COVID-19 Death

1) An outbreak of COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 and has since spread to 26 countries, with over 66,580 confirmed cases and 1,524 deaths as of February 15. 2) The disease is usually acute but can also be deadly, with a 2% fatality rate, and severe cases can result in death due to extensive lung damage and respiratory failure. 3) Here we report the first known autopsy findings of a COVID-19 patient, a 50-year-old man from Wuhan who died from severe respiratory infection, in order to better understand the disease's pathogenesis and improve clinical strategies.

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Christine Jane Rodriguez
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62 views1 page

Pathological Insights into COVID-19 Death

1) An outbreak of COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 and has since spread to 26 countries, with over 66,580 confirmed cases and 1,524 deaths as of February 15. 2) The disease is usually acute but can also be deadly, with a 2% fatality rate, and severe cases can result in death due to extensive lung damage and respiratory failure. 3) Here we report the first known autopsy findings of a COVID-19 patient, a 50-year-old man from Wuhan who died from severe respiratory infection, in order to better understand the disease's pathogenesis and improve clinical strategies.

Uploaded by

Christine Jane Rodriguez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Since late December, 2019, an outbreak of a novel coronavirus

disease (COVID-19; previously known as 2019-nCoV)


1

 
, 

 was reported in Wuhan, China,


2

 which has subsequently affected 26 countries worldwide. In general,


COVID-19 is an acute resolved disease but it can also be deadly, with
a 2% case fatality rate. Severe disease onset might result in death
due to massive alveolar damage and progressive respiratory failure.
2

 
, 

 As of Feb 15, about 66 580 cases have been confirmed and over
1524 deaths. However, no pathology has been reported due to barely
accessible autopsy or biopsy.
2

 
, 

 Here, we investigated the pathological characteristics of a patient who


died from severe infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by postmortem biopsies. This study is in
accordance with regulations issued by the National Health
Commission of China and the Helsinki Declaration. Our findings will
facilitate understanding of the pathogenesis of COVID-19 and improve
clinical strategies against the disease.
A 50-year-old man was admitted to a fever clinic on Jan 21, 2020, with
symptoms of fever, chills, cough, fatigue and shortness of breath. He
reported a travel history to Wuhan Jan 8–12, and that he had initial
symptoms of mild chills and dry cough on Jan 14 (day 1 of illness) but
did not see a doctor and kept working until Jan 21 (figure 1). Chest x-
ray showed multiple patchy shadows in both lungs (appendix p 2), and
a throat swab sample was taken. On Jan 22 (day 9 of illness), the
Beijing Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed by reverse real-
time PCR assay that the patient had COVID-19.

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