Pathomorphology of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19

Abstract

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 apandemic. Despite a large number of scientific publications concerning the clinical picture and trea tment methods, data on structural changes of internal organs in COVID-19 is still insufficient. This review presents and analyzes several clinical cases published by research groups in various countries. COVID-19 infection is caused by a SARS-CoV-2 virus that binds to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 ACE2 receptor. Interaction with this receptor is the initial stage of pathogenesis. The morphological picture is similar to pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV: at the initial stage, a picture of shock lungs develops, later it ends in fibrosis and organizing pneumonia. One of the most severe complications is acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is observed in some clinical cases reviewed. In this article, we collected cases of clinical and morphological studies of patients with COVID-19, published in international peer-reviewed medical literature to date.