Elsevier

Legal Medicine

Volume 47, November 2020, 101769
Legal Medicine

Autopsies of COVID-19 deceased? Absolutely!

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2020.101769Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Autopsies are indispensable in the management of the COVID 19 pandemic.

  • Many essential scientific findings can only be obtained on the basis of autopsies.

  • The risk of infection from autopsies of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients is manageable.

  • More autopsies should be performed worldwide.

Abstract

Autopsies are an essential tool for understanding new diseases. Against this background, it is incomprehensible why there is great reluctance worldwide to perform autopsies on COVID-19 deceased patients. The article provides an overview of the status of the autopsy series published worldwide and shows the path taken by the city of Hamburg in Germany, where autopsies are ordered by the health authorities in the interests of disease control. The risk of infection posed by SARS-CoV-2-positive deceased persons may be overestimated. The scientific benefit that can be drawn from experience with autopsies and further examination of tissue samples is immeasurable.

Keywords

COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Pandemic
Autopsy
Post mortem

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