Feasibility of postmortem examination in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: the experience of a Northeast Italy University Hospital.
Virchows Arch
; 477(3): 341-347, 2020 Sep.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-591333
ABSTRACT
With the continuous spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and increasing number of deaths worldwide, the need and appropriateness for autopsy in patients with COVID-19 became a matter of discussion. In fact, in the COVID-19 era protection of healthcare workers is a priority besides patient management. No evidence is currently available about the real risk related to the procedure as well as to the subsequent management of the samples. We herein describe the procedure that has been used to perform the first series of postmortem examinations in the COVID center of the Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy, after the implementation of an ad hoc operating procedure, to minimize the risk of infection for pathologists and technicians. Provided that the procedure is performed in an adequate environment respecting strict biosafety rules, our data indicate that complete postmortem examination appears to be safe and will be highly informative providing useful insights into the complex disease pathogenesis.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Autopsy
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Pandemics
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Virchows Arch
Journal subject:
Molecular Biology
/
Pathology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S00428-020-02861-1
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS