Autopsy One Hour After COVID-19 Death Reveals Damage to Lungs and Cardiovascular System
[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] Chinese researchers conducted autopsies on three patients who died from the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and found the COVID-19 virus in the lungs as well as damage in the heart and surrounding vascular tissues.
According to the latest issue of the international academic journal Chinese Journal of Pathology on the 19th, medical staff from the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China, performed autopsies on three confirmed COVID-19 deceased patients one hour after death. The three deceased were two males (aged 63 and 69) and one female (aged 79), all with underlying conditions such as diabetes and oral cancer.
Chinese medical staff reported that the autopsy results revealed the presence of the COVID-19 virus in alveolar epithelial cells and pulmonary macrophages. They also noted findings such as inflammatory exudate, pulmonary fibrosis, and hemorrhage in the alveoli. Although the COVID-19 virus was not directly detected in organs other than the lungs, damage was observed in the heart and surrounding vascular tissues. This raises the possibility that COVID-19 infection can adversely affect not only the lungs but also other organs such as the heart, liver, and kidneys.
Regarding this, the medical staff speculated in their paper that "while the influence of underlying diseases cannot be excluded, COVID-19 infection may have adversely affected not only the heart but also other organs such as the liver and kidneys." They judged that the damage to multiple organs appears to be influenced by both the direct effects of the virus itself and indirect inflammatory responses.
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Previously, a first autopsy report of a confirmed COVID-19 case published last month in the Chinese Journal of Forensic Medicine mentioned that, in addition to lung damage similar to that seen in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients, damage was also observed in other organs.
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