ORAL LESIONS ON A COVID-19 PATIENT: AN AUTOPSY STUDY TO ELUCIDATE COINFECTION

ABSTRACT

We present a case of a patient who died of complications of COVID-19. A 29-year-old woman presented multiple bleeding ulcerous lesions involving lips and inner lip mucosa. The patient was pregnant (29th week) and presented fever, diarrhea, dyspnea, nausea, dysgeusia, and anosmia in a 27-day evolution until death. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit, submitted to mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, developed fetal distress, and was submitted to an emergency C-section. Cause of death was a cardiogenic shock. During minimally invasive autopsy, oral lesions were identified and postmortem biopsy was performed. Clinical hypotheses were SARS-CoV-2 vs herpes virus. The histopathologic analyses revealed mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate, and keratinocytes showed no viral inclusion or cytopathic alterations. A large amount of a cuboid shaped gram-positive coccus in a tetrad packet arrangement was observed, compatible with Sarcina ventriculi. An abundant amount of Candida spp. was also observed. Samples were negative for immunohistochemistry to anti-SARS-CoV-2, herpes simplex virus, and cytomegalovirus.