Multi-organ dysfunction and outcomes in pregnancy associated COVID-19 infection - descriptive review of pathological findings.

OBJECTIVE(S): Comparative clinical and morphological characterization of lesions of the vascular and nervous system in cases of maternal death associated with COVID-19. STUDY DESIGN: The study included autopsy in 12 cases of maternal death with a positive intravital result for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. For histopathology, tissue samples were taken from the internal organs of each patient. Pieces of organs were fixed and stained according to the standard protocol. The relative number of microvessels with vasculitis and fibers of the peripheral nervous system with infiltration by immune cells was studied. All morphological changes were classified depending on the severity of the damage. RESULTS: The average age of patients with a fatal outcome was 35 ± 4.4 years. Time to death after onset of symptoms averaged 16 ± 4.4 days. Dystrophic lesions (necrosis and apoptosis) of the villous and extravillous trophoblast and decidual tissue were observed in the studied placentas. Histopathological signs of mild and severe lesions of the peripheral nervous system in the organs of the gastrointestinal tract were detected in 2 (16.7%) and 10 (83.3%) cases, respectively, in the myocardium in 4 (33.3%) and 8 (66.7%) cases. Histopathological signs of severe damage to the microvascular bed in the organs of the gastrointestinal tract were registered in 9 (75%) cases. CONCLUSION(S): The main clinical feature of this cohort was that death occurred in a long-term period, in most cases with a negative PCR. The histopathological pattern was a non-acute injury with an immune component of the microvascular bed and the autonomic nervous system with predominant damage to the myocardium and intestines. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO THE CLINICAL WORK: This study makes it possible to even better study the immunopathological profile in organs and tissues in pregnant women with a fatal outcome when affected by a viral infection, in particular Covid-19. This knowledge can be used when humanity encounters other viral pandemics in the future.

[Evaluation of the functional state of the thyroid gland in women residing in the ecologically unfavorable Aral Sea region].

There was executed the clinical examination of 225 women of reproductive age, and in all cases there was made blood sampling for the determination of the serum level of TSH, free T. Observed cases were divided into three groups: 18-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years. As a result, a high prevalence of declined thyroid function was found to be in the form of subclinical manifested hypothyroidism, which exceeds by several times the average incidence of these pathologies in the population. It should be noted that the maximum number of women suffering from subclinical (21.33% of observed cases), and the manifested hypothyroidism (9.33% of the study) was seen in a group of women aged of 18-29 years.

[Oxidative metabolism in radiation injury].

The article represents results of studies concerning influence of ionizing radiation on experimental animals under absolutely lethal doses of 8 Gy. In single total irradiation the rats demonstrate changes in lipoperoxic cascade products and suppressed activity of anioxidant defence enzymes in generative cells--that causes metabolic disorders.