Lung Pathology in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Associated with the Novel SARS-Cov-2 Virus

Abstract

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a well-recognized clinical problem first described in the late sixties. However, its relevance seems to have increased since the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) outbreak, as 14% (CI 95% 2% to 59%) of patients admitted to the hospital present with this syndrome. Conceptually, a syndrome is a group of symptoms and signs that correspond to several diseases. Although defining disease is much harder than may appear at first glance, we can view it as the association between a syndrome and a pathology pattern. Diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) is the morphological hallmark of ARDS, although studies performed in autopsies and patients have demonstrated that it is present in only half of ARDS patients. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and the high incidence of ARDS associated with this infection have triggered a natural question: is the lung pathology similar in patients with ARDS associated with traditional risk factors than to SARS-CoV-2 infection? This review aims to analyze the lung pathology results of patients infected with the novel SARS Cov-2. As this article targets non-intensive care physicians, we will first describe the main characteristics of the novel SARS-Cov-2 and the ARDS definition, and then the lung pathology results from the UCI in this group of patients.