Postmortem detectability and viability of SARS-COV-2 virus in various biological specimens

Abstract

Introduction. Without a comprehensive postmortem investigation it is impossible to determine the cause of death among the SARS-CoV-2-suspected and -positive patients. We present two cases to discuss the postmortem detectability of SARS-CoV-2 virus and RNA stability in biological samples. Outline of cases. Case No. 1: a 40-year-old man on whom the autopsy was performed four days after death. The body was stored at 4°C. Bilateral pneumonia was confirmed grossly and histopathologicaly. Molecular testing was positive for IgM antibodies, but negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Case No. 2: a 28-year-old professional basketball player who suffered from SARS-CoV-2 about a month earlier. The autopsy was performed two days after death. The body was stored at 15°C. Gross autopsy findings revealed advanced putrefactive changes and an enlarged heart, with visible fibrotic focuses. The histopathological finding corresponded to the sudden cardiovascular death due to the cardiac dysrhythmia most probably formed in one of the fibrotic focuses. Tests for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibodies (IgM, IgG) were positive in the analyzed samples. Conclusion. This report suggests that SARS-CoV-2 virus can be isolated in the biological samples even after a long post-mortem prolongation of molecular analyses. We emphasize the necessity of wider studies that will define the infectiveness and biological stability of the virus in postmortem tissues.

Keywords

• forensic medicine
• forensic pathology
• covid-19
• virus detection
• biological samples