SynthesisPloS one2021
Pathological findings in organs and tissues of patients with COVID-19: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Deep neural networks excel in COVID-19 disease severity prediction-a meta-regression analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Findings and inferences from full autopsies, minimally invasive autopsies and biopsy studies in patients who died as a result of COVID19 - A systematic review.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2022Pooled it
- Morphological and tissue-based molecular characterization of oral lesions in patients with COVID-19: A living systematic review.Archives of oral biology · 2022Pooled it
- Fetoplacental transmission and placental response to SARS-CoV-2: Evidence from the literature.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Histological features of liver biopsy in patients with COVID-19: a single institution experience with long term follow-up outcome.Diagnostic pathology · 2026Article
- Review
- COVID-19 Infection, Drugs, and Liver Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Markers in Post Mortem Lung Biopsies from COVID-19 Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Long COVID has variable incidence and clinical presentations: our 6-country collaborative study.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Clinical Characteristics of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients With Renal Failure.Cureus · 2024Article
- Mapping the vast landscape of multisystem complications of COVID-19: Bibliometric analysis.Heliyon · 2024Article
- A Tiny Viral Protein, SARS-CoV-2-ORF7b: Functional Molecular Mechanisms.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- Article
- The Potential Mechanisms Behind Adverse Effect of Coronavirus Disease-19 on Heart and Liver Damage: A Review.Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2024Review
- Neuroprotective Agents with Therapeutic Potential for COVID-19.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Pathomorphological Features of the Novel Coronavirus Disease in Patients with Systemic Amyloidosis.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- Identification of potential biomarkers to predict organ morbidity in COVID-19: A repository based proteomics perspective.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2023Article
- Comorbidity genetic risk and pathways impact SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- [The problem of long/post-COVID in expert assessments].Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has caused more than 2.2 million deaths worldwide. We summarize the reported pathologic findings on biopsy and autopsy in patients with severe/fatal COVID-19 and documented the presence and/or effect of SARS-CoV-2 in all organs. METHODS AND
findingsA systematic search of the PubMed, Embase, MedRxiv, Lilacs and Epistemonikos databases from January to August 2020 for all case reports and case series that reported histopathologic findings of COVID-19 infection at autopsy or tissue biopsy was performed. 603 COVID-19 cases from 75 of 451 screened studies met inclusion criteria. The most common pathologic findings were lungs: diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) (92%) and superimposed acute bronchopneumonia (27%); liver: hepatitis (21%), heart: myocarditis (11.4%). Vasculitis was common only in skin biopsies (25%). Microthrombi were described in the placenta (57.9%), lung (38%), kidney (20%), Central Nervous System (CNS) (18%), and gastrointestinal (GI) tract (2%). Injury of endothelial cells was common in the lung (18%) and heart (4%). Hemodynamic changes such as necrosis due to hypoxia/hypoperfusion, edema and congestion were common in kidney (53%), liver (48%), CNS (31%) and GI tract (18%). SARS-CoV-2 viral particles were demonstrated within organ-specific cells in the trachea, lung, liver, large intestine, kidney, CNS either by electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, or immunohistochemistry. Additional tissues were positive by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests only. The included studies were from numerous countries, some were not peer reviewed, and some studies were performed by subspecialists, resulting in variable and inconsistent reporting or over statement of the reported findings.
conclusionsThe main pathologic findings of severe/fatal COVID-19 infection are DAD, changes related to coagulopathy and/or hemodynamic compromise. In addition, according to the observed organ damage myocarditis may be associated with sequelae.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.