STAR Protocols (Mar 2024)

Protocol for postmortem bedside endoscopic procedure to sample human respiratory and olfactory cleft mucosa, olfactory bulbs, and frontal lobe

  • Marnick Clijsters,
  • Mona Khan,
  • Wout Backaert,
  • Mark Jorissen,
  • Kato Speleman,
  • Pauline Van Bulck,
  • Wouter Van Den Bogaert,
  • Christophe Vandenbriele,
  • Peter Mombaerts,
  • Laura Van Gerven

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 1
p. 102831

Abstract

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Summary: We present a protocol for the rapid postmortem bedside procurement of selected tissue samples using an endoscopic endonasal surgical technique that we adapted from skull base surgery. We describe steps for the postmortem collection of blood, cerebrospinal fluid, a nasopharyngeal swab, and tissue samples; the clean-up procedure; and the initial processing and storage of the samples. This protocol was validated with tissue samples procured postmortem from COVID-19 patients and can be applied in another emerging infectious disease.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Khan et al. (2021)1 and Khan et al. (2022).2 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

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