The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale health crisis in the twenty-first century since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012. SARS-CoV-2 infection, has been known to cause mainly clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to that of SARS-CoV, causing symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, leukopenia and bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Even though COVID-19 is known for its specific tropism for pulmonary epithelium and its catastrophic consequences, is extra pulmonary involvement, in particular nervous system, possible? What are the main cause for the development of the neurological manifestation? The final aim of the research is to try to find an answer to those questions. Understand the possible pathogenesis of neurological manifestation of COVID-19. Particularly, evaluate the presence of histological abnormalities and define whether they are aspecific, secondary to hypoxia, or specifically related to inflammation, also vascular and endothelial involvement will be evaluated; finally, we would determine if the observed alterations occur in the presence of the SARS-CoV-2. We took under exam and processed the brain of 10 subject all tested positive for Covid-19, including 5 female aged between 74-94 years old, and 5 male subject aged between 29-92 years old. Histological and immunohistologial examination were done. The research is still in progress the analysis of the first data from our research showed the presence of diffuse oedema particularly visible in the fronto-tempora and hyppocampal area, perivascular inflammatory infiltrate in all subject together with an aspecific microglial activation, present in form of diffuse or in some case focal foci of microglial nodules with a increased prevalence in the pontine area. The final immunohistochemical test we run is to prove the presence of the Sars-Cov2 virus in the cerebral tissue which showed the presence of weak positivity in three out of the five cases examined. The areas more involved including the olfactory bulb, the brain stem, the pons in same case leptomeninges. Further research will provide with more details on this topic that have so much more to be discovered.
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale health crisis in the twenty-first century since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012. SARS-CoV-2 infection, has been known to cause mainly clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to that of SARS-CoV, causing symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, leukopenia and bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Even though COVID-19 is known for its specific tropism for pulmonary epithelium and its catastrophic consequences, is extra pulmonary involvement, in particular nervous system, possible? What are the main cause for the development of the neurological manifestation? The final aim of the research is to try to find an answer to those questions. Understand the possible pathogenesis of neurological manifestation of COVID-19. Particularly, evaluate the presence of histological abnormalities and define whether they are aspecific, secondary to hypoxia, or specifically related to inflammation, also vascular and endothelial involvement will be evaluated; finally, we would determine if the observed alterations occur in the presence of the SARS-CoV-2. We took under exam and processed the brain of 10 subject all tested positive for Covid-19, including 5 female aged between 74-94 years old, and 5 male subject aged between 29-92 years old. Histological and immunohistologial examination were done. The research is still in progress the analysis of the first data from our research showed the presence of diffuse oedema particularly visible in the fronto-tempora and hyppocampal area, perivascular inflammatory infiltrate in all subject together with an aspecific microglial activation, present in form of diffuse or in some case focal foci of microglial nodules with a increased prevalence in the pontine area. The final immunohistochemical test we run is to prove the presence of the Sars-Cov2 virus in the cerebral tissue which showed the presence of weak positivity in three out of the five cases examined. The areas more involved including the olfactory bulb, the brain stem, the pons in same case leptomeninges. Further research will provide with more details on this topic that have so much more to be discovered.
COVID-19 BRAIN NEUROPATHOLOGY: FIVE CONSECUTIVE AUTOPSY
MILIONE, ANNA
2019/2020
Abstract
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) marked the third introduction of a highly pathogenic and large-scale health crisis in the twenty-first century since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012. SARS-CoV-2 infection, has been known to cause mainly clusters of severe respiratory illness similar to that of SARS-CoV, causing symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, leukopenia and bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Even though COVID-19 is known for its specific tropism for pulmonary epithelium and its catastrophic consequences, is extra pulmonary involvement, in particular nervous system, possible? What are the main cause for the development of the neurological manifestation? The final aim of the research is to try to find an answer to those questions. Understand the possible pathogenesis of neurological manifestation of COVID-19. Particularly, evaluate the presence of histological abnormalities and define whether they are aspecific, secondary to hypoxia, or specifically related to inflammation, also vascular and endothelial involvement will be evaluated; finally, we would determine if the observed alterations occur in the presence of the SARS-CoV-2. We took under exam and processed the brain of 10 subject all tested positive for Covid-19, including 5 female aged between 74-94 years old, and 5 male subject aged between 29-92 years old. Histological and immunohistologial examination were done. The research is still in progress the analysis of the first data from our research showed the presence of diffuse oedema particularly visible in the fronto-tempora and hyppocampal area, perivascular inflammatory infiltrate in all subject together with an aspecific microglial activation, present in form of diffuse or in some case focal foci of microglial nodules with a increased prevalence in the pontine area. The final immunohistochemical test we run is to prove the presence of the Sars-Cov2 virus in the cerebral tissue which showed the presence of weak positivity in three out of the five cases examined. The areas more involved including the olfactory bulb, the brain stem, the pons in same case leptomeninges. Further research will provide with more details on this topic that have so much more to be discovered.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/11886