COVID-19 and the Brain: The Neuropathological Italian Experience on 33 Adult Autopsies

Biomolecules. 2022 Apr 25;12(5):629. doi: 10.3390/biom12050629.

Abstract

Neurological symptoms are increasingly recognized in SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. However, the neuropathogenesis remains unclear and it is not possible to define a specific damage pattern due to brain virus infection. In the present study, 33 cases of brain autopsies performed during the first (February-April 2020) and the second/third (November 2020-April 2021) pandemic waves are described. In all the cases, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was searched. Pathological findings are described and compared with those presently published.

Keywords: COVID-19; astrogliosis; bacterial superinfection; chronic inflammation; endovascular microthrombi; hypoxic-ischemic injury; microglia activation; neuropathology.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Autopsy
  • Brain
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • RNA, Viral
  • SARS-CoV-2

Substances

  • RNA, Viral