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Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article

Received: 9 October 2020    Accepted: 24 October 2020    Published: 23 November 2020
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Abstract

Background: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 has posed complex challenges to the global public health and it was declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Understanding the histopathology of COVID-19 will be crucial to propose effective therapies. However, studies on the pathological diagnosis of COVID-19 have been relatively deficient, scattered with a few summarized evidence. Objective: The objective of this review article was to have current state of knowledge about the histopathological changes detected in major organs due to COVID-19 disease, in order to enable the current understanding of it. Methods: The literature search for this document was carried out comprehensively by accessing PubMed, Google scholar, Web-of-Science and other data bases. In addition helpful documents were added. Result and conclusion: The most histopathological findings were in the pulmonary system. The primary pathology was diffuse alveolar damage with virus located in the pneumocytes. However, other major organs including the heart, liver and kidneys may be susceptible to viral replication and impairment leading to increased mortality in those with disseminated disease. The main histopathological findings in kidney were varying degrees of acute tubular necrosis, luminal brush border sloughing and dilated capillary vessels in the glomeruli. Liver injury is more common in severe cases of COVID-19.

Published in International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences (Volume 6, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12
Page(s) 119-125
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19, Histopathology, Review

References
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    Daba Abdissa. (2020). Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences, 6(6), 119-125. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12

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    ACS Style

    Daba Abdissa. Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article. Int. J. Clin. Exp. Med. Sci. 2020, 6(6), 119-125. doi: 10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12

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    AMA Style

    Daba Abdissa. Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article. Int J Clin Exp Med Sci. 2020;6(6):119-125. doi: 10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12,
      author = {Daba Abdissa},
      title = {Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article},
      journal = {International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences},
      volume = {6},
      number = {6},
      pages = {119-125},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijcems.20200606.12},
      abstract = {Background: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 has posed complex challenges to the global public health and it was declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Understanding the histopathology of COVID-19 will be crucial to propose effective therapies. However, studies on the pathological diagnosis of COVID-19 have been relatively deficient, scattered with a few summarized evidence. Objective: The objective of this review article was to have current state of knowledge about the histopathological changes detected in major organs due to COVID-19 disease, in order to enable the current understanding of it. Methods: The literature search for this document was carried out comprehensively by accessing PubMed, Google scholar, Web-of-Science and other data bases. In addition helpful documents were added. Result and conclusion: The most histopathological findings were in the pulmonary system. The primary pathology was diffuse alveolar damage with virus located in the pneumocytes. However, other major organs including the heart, liver and kidneys may be susceptible to viral replication and impairment leading to increased mortality in those with disseminated disease. The main histopathological findings in kidney were varying degrees of acute tubular necrosis, luminal brush border sloughing and dilated capillary vessels in the glomeruli. Liver injury is more common in severe cases of COVID-19.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    T1  - Histopathologic Findings of COVID-19: A Review Article
    AU  - Daba Abdissa
    Y1  - 2020/11/23
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12
    T2  - International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medical Sciences
    SP  - 119
    EP  - 125
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-8032
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijcems.20200606.12
    AB  - Background: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 has posed complex challenges to the global public health and it was declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Understanding the histopathology of COVID-19 will be crucial to propose effective therapies. However, studies on the pathological diagnosis of COVID-19 have been relatively deficient, scattered with a few summarized evidence. Objective: The objective of this review article was to have current state of knowledge about the histopathological changes detected in major organs due to COVID-19 disease, in order to enable the current understanding of it. Methods: The literature search for this document was carried out comprehensively by accessing PubMed, Google scholar, Web-of-Science and other data bases. In addition helpful documents were added. Result and conclusion: The most histopathological findings were in the pulmonary system. The primary pathology was diffuse alveolar damage with virus located in the pneumocytes. However, other major organs including the heart, liver and kidneys may be susceptible to viral replication and impairment leading to increased mortality in those with disseminated disease. The main histopathological findings in kidney were varying degrees of acute tubular necrosis, luminal brush border sloughing and dilated capillary vessels in the glomeruli. Liver injury is more common in severe cases of COVID-19.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 6
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Author Information
  • School of Medical Sciences, Jimma University, Oromia, Ethiopia

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