Covid does not just attack the lungs and heart, Spallanzani study on autopsies

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Published on: 05/10/2020 18:23

The virus doesn’t just attack the lungs and heart. The kidneys, liver, spleen and bone marrow are also affected by Sars-Cov-2. This is what a study of the Inmi Spallanzani of Rome discovered, in collaboration with the Department of Infectious Diseases of the University College of London, which analyzed the results of the autopsies conducted on 22 patients who died due to Covid-19. “The cause of death was for all cardio-respiratory failure, caused mainly by acute lung damage, microvascular damage or thrombosis – the research reports – however the analysis of the samples taken during the autopsies showed important alterations, as well as lungs and heart, including liver, kidney, spleen and bone marrow “. The studio got the cover image from the magazine’s issue.

“Eighteen of the patients undergoing post-mortem examination, with an average age of 76 (minimum 27, maximum 92) had one or more comorbidities, such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, respiratory or kidney disease; the remaining four patients, of median age equal to 48 and a half years (minimum 35, maximum 65) did not have any underlying disease – the researchers continue – From the autopsy and subsequent microscopic examinations of the samples, numerous alterations in the organs analyzed emerged. the patients presented with increased volume, edematous and congested, with diffuse pleural thickening and pleural effusion. In the lung samples a significant upregulation of the cytokine receptor CXCR3 was also demonstrated, which leads to identify precisely in this cytokine a potential therapeutic target for future treatments “.

The analysis conducted on the heart of the patients showed “an increase in the size and weight of the heart, hypertrophy and dilation of the atria and ventricles, both right and left”. The available scientific literature has highlighted “that pre-existing heart problems are a risk factor for Covid-19 patients”, but the research has highlighted “in the four patients without pre-existing risk factors a marked pericarditis and cell infiltration inflammatory, indicating that the disease can impair heart function even in healthy individuals“, emerges from the work of the Inmi.

“About 30% of the patients examined showed kidney lesions, mainly among patients with comorbidities. The same phenomenon was observed in the liver analysis: also in this case the patients who had pre-existing risk factors showed more pronounced hepatic lesions. However, further studies will be necessary – remark the infectious experts – to verify whether the kidney and liver lesions are a direct effect of the action of the virus, or of the excessive and abnormal inflammatory response triggered by the immune system “.

“The analysis of the spleen showed a reduction in volume and size in all patients, while the microscopic analysis of the bone marrow showed, particularly in patients with comorbidities, a prevalence of the yellow marrow rich in adipocytes over the red marrow hematopoietic “, the research continues.

In conclusion, that of the autopsies of the deceased for Covid-19 is a “research field hitherto little frequented both for the emergency experienced in hospitals around the world and for the objective difficulties of safely operating post-mortem examinations on highly contagious “, notes Spallanzani. Certainly, however, the autopsies “can make a decisive contribution to better understanding the many and still little known mechanisms of the interaction between Sars-Cov-2 and the human host”. “It is therefore appropriate – according to the researchers – that, especially in a phase in which hospitals are no longer under pressure as in the worst months of the pandemic, the priority to complete autopsy studies on the whole body, trying to segment the analyzes by geographical origin, age, ethnic groups, co-morbidities “.

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