Lung damage: Important information about the cause of death of Corona patients

The largest part of the people who have been infected with the COVID-19-causative agent, the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, attached, show only mild symptoms. However, in some patients the disease can take a severe course and lead to death. In a new study has now shown that there is often severe lung damage, for the death of the Sufferers are not the cause.

Recently, Research reported from Germany and the United States, the COVID-19 the lungs, damage other than a Influenza. How much the lungs are damaged in many of the Corona-treated patients and in-patients, have also shown autopsies of COVID-19-deceased.

Massively impaired oxygen absorption in the lungs

As the University of Augsburg writes in a recent communication, shows a study of the Augsburg University hospital, the lung tissue of COVID-19-is damage of the deceased, is irreversible.

The cause of the damage to the Coronavirus whose genome was able to be in the respiratory tract detected was.

Lung damage due to mechanical ventilation could be excluded as the cause largely because more than half of the patients were not ventilated.

The massive impaired oxygen absorption in the lungs led according to the experts, finally to the death of the Diseased.

The results of the study were published recently in the prestigious journal “Journal of the American Medical Association” (JAMA).

Almost all of the deceased were autopsied on

The infection with the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 runs in the majority of cases, as little complication-prone disease of the upper respiratory tract, particularly the pharynx.

Some of the Infected develop pneumonia, which is a small proportion of the cases so hard, that an artificial respiration is required. In spite of intensive medical measures inherit patients die of this disease.

An interdisciplinary team of Doctors, the Augsburg-based pathologist Dr. Tina Schaller led since the 4. April of this year, 19 autopsies in deceased patients with COVID-19.

Thanks to a careful reconnaissance of the relatives could be reached in Augsburg, an autopsy rate of close to 90 percent of the deaths, which allowed the Physicians a genuine assessment.

The genome of the Virus in the respiratory system shown

“During the investigations, we were able to the genetic material of the Virus in the respiratory system of the deceased to prove,” explains Dr. Schaller, senior physician and first author of the study.

The information that was revealed in the lung tissue itself was unusually severe, in part allegedly irreversible damage.

The team of Doctors looks at this change as a cause of death, because in this way the oxygen uptake is through the lungs to supply the organs, massively compromised.

With the impact of SARS – and MERS-diseases similar

“The most important finding from the first analysis is that the described pulmonary lesions are clearly a complication of mechanical ventilation,” Prof. Dr. Bruno Märkl, Director of the Institute for pathology and Molecular diagnostics of the University hospital of Augsburg and holds the chair for General and Special pathology at the Medical faculty of the University of Augsburg.

“Rather, they arise independently of this intensive medical intervention most likely to be directly due to the viral injury. All patients suffered from severe underlying diseases, but did not lead directly to death,“ explains the physician.

According to the message in the other organs no obvious serious changes were able to be detected.

By the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 caused marked damage to the lungs are comparable with the effects of the SARS – and MERS-related diseases. (ad)