Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2020;75:e1972.
Ultrasound-guided minimally invasive autopsies: A protocol for the study of pulmonary and systemic involvement of COVID-19
Renata Aparecida de Almeida Monteiro, Amaro Nunes Duarte-Neto
, Luiz Fernando Ferraz da Silva, Ellen Pierre de Oliveira
, Jair Theodoro Filho
, Glaucia Aparecida Bento dos Santos, Ilka Regina Souza de Oliveira
, Thais Mauad
, Paulo Hilário do Nascimento Saldiva
, Marisa Dolhnikoff
DOI: 10.6061/clinics/2020/e1972
INTRODUCTION
Over the last few decades, there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of hospital autopsies conducted around the world. However, autopsies are important for increasing our understanding of novel diseases. For example, autopsies were of vital importance in understanding acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and H1N1. There is a lack of literature on autopsies conducted on patients that have died of COVID-19 despite the high number of deaths worldwide. This is probably due to the risk of contagion, lack of skilled autopsy pathologists, and lack of adequately equipped services.
To prepare for the current pandemic and the potential high demand for advanced ventilation support of critically ill patients, our University Hospital, Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, dedicated all of its 900 beds (700 semi-intensive, 200 intensive) to treat patients with COVID-19 on March 24, 2020. Unfortunately, a substantial number of deaths are still occurring.
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