Stillborn child with diffuse SARS-CoV-2 viral infection of multiple organs

Vsevolod A Zinserling; Stefan R Bornstein; Tatyana A Narkevich; Yulia V Sukhanova; Natalia Yu Semenova; Maria A Vashukova; Charlotte Steenblock

doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2021.e01328

Stillborn child with diffuse SARS-CoV-2 viral infection of multiple organs

IDCases. 2021:26:e01328. doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2021.e01328. Epub 2021 Nov 5.

Authors

Vsevolod A Zinserling^{1

2}, Stefan R Bornstein^{3

4}, Tatyana A Narkevich², Yulia V Sukhanova², Natalia Yu Semenova^{1

2}, Maria A Vashukova², Charlotte Steenblock³

Affiliations

¹ V.A. Almazov Research Center, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
² S.P. Botkin Infectious Hospital, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
³ Department of Internal Medicine III, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
⁴ Department of Diabetes, School of Life Course Science and Medicine, Kings College London, London, UK.

Abstract

In May 2020, a pregnant woman in her 37th pregnancy week was diagnosed with COVID-19 in St. Petersburg in Russia. All treatments failed and the patient died after 11 days due to acute respiratory distress syndrome. A stillborn child was removed by caesarian section. Pathological investigations showed that the child died due to antenatal asphyxia with aspiration pneumonia. The child was positive for SARS-CoV-2 and immunohistochemical investigations showed viral infection and cellular changes in several organs such as pancreas, brain, spleen, and adrenals. These results emphasize the importance of vaccinating pregnant women against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; Pancreas; Pregnancy; SARS-CoV-2; Stillbirth; Viral infiltration.

Publication types

Case Reports