A comprehensive review of histopathological findings of infections induced by COVID-19

Salah Tofik Jalal Balaky,Elham Kazemi,Sara Shahriyari,Sahar Mohammed Zaki Abdullah,Marwah Suliman Maashi,Fariba Tabari,Ayad F Alkaim,Markov Alexander

doi:10.14715/cmb/2020.66.7.22

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-Coronavirus (CoV2) virus, first identified in Wuhan, China, caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which soon became a global pandemic, as labelled by the World Health Organization (WHO). The transmission method of the infection is primarily through droplets of various sizes. The SARS-CoV2 virus leads to a severe respiratory illness which in the first place causes the simulation of the acute respiratory syndrome. In order to diagnose of COVID-19 efficiently, samples with infection probability need to be examined through histopathological methods. Survival chances of the infected can remarkably increase if the virus is diagnosed timely by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest. One of the destructive effects of COVID-19 is the formation of ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the lungs which might be regarded to be equivalent to high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). COVID-19 acts very similarly to SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which can be inactivated by the chemical compounds of ethanol and sodium hypochlorite. Epidemiologic characteristics of COVID-19 have been indicated by numerous studies; however, there is still a lack of details of pathologic changes in the lung. The present comprehensive review is an attempt to assess and cover the current state of knowledge on COVID-19 disease based on the histopathologic studies conducted before May 2020.

Highlights

In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged in China and quickly became a pandemic which spread all over the world and caused acute pneumonia [1]
One of the destructive effects of COVID-19 is the formation of ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the lungs which might be regarded to be equivalent to high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)
It has been reported that lungs infected with COVID-19 have been reported to have usual fissures and lobes; prior partial lobectomy on the right lung was observed in some died cases [15]

Summary

Introduction

In December 2019, COVID-19 emerged in China and quickly became a pandemic which spread all over the world and caused acute pneumonia [1]. As characterized by Zhu et al, COVID-19 is an infectious disease induced by parasites, viruses, and bacteria that spread between vertebrates and humans [1]. According to the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, COVID-19 is a coronavirus variant that caused the spread of SARS in 2002-3; this new virus is called SARS-Corona Virus 2 (SARSCoV-2) [6]. This virus causes a severe resolved disease which can be fatal due to progressive respiratory failure and massive alveolar damage. COVID-19 afflicted approximately 6.08 million people by May 2020, 370 thousand of whom died and 2.57 million recovered [7]

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Results

Conclusion