[Methods of SARS-CoV-2 detection in tissue]. / Nachweismethoden von SARS-CoV-2 in Gewebe.
Pathologe
; 42(2): 208-215, 2021 Mar.
Article
in German
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1235730
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Analyses for the presence of SARS-CoV2 in the tissues of COVID-19 patients is important in order to improve our understanding of the disease pathophysiology for interpretation of diagnostic histopathological findings in autopsies, biopsies, or surgical specimens and to assess the potential for occupational infectious hazard. MATERIAL ANDMETHODS:
In this review we identified 136 published studies in PubMed's curated literature database LitCovid on SARS-CoV2 detection methods in tissues and evaluated them regarding sources of error, specificity, and sensitivity of the methods, taking into account our own experience.RESULTS:
Currently, no sufficiently specific histomorphological alterations or diagnostic features for COVID-19 are known. Therefore, three approaches for SARS-CoV2 detection are used RNA, proteins/antigens, or morphological detection by electron microscopy. In the preanalytical phase, the dominant source of error is tissue quality, especially the different intervals between sample collection and processing or fixation (and its duration) and specifically the interval between death and sample collection in autopsies. However, this information is found in less than half of the studies (e.g., in only 42% of autopsy studies). Our own experience and first studies prove the significantly higher sensitivity and specificity of RNA-based detection methods compared to antigen or protein detection by immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescence. Detection by electron microscopy is time consuming and difficult to interpret.CONCLUSIONS:
Different methods are available for the detection of SARS-CoV2 in tissue. Currently, RNA detection by RT-PCR is the method of choice. However, extensive validation studies and method harmonization are not available and are absolutely necessary.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
Limits:
Humans
Language:
German
Journal:
Pathologe
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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