Modern technologies enable the exchange of information about the expansion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the continually increasing number of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases almost in real time. The gravity of a current epidemiological situation is represented by the mortality rates, which are scrupulously updated daily. Performing autopsies on patients with either suspected or confirmed COVID-19 is of high importance since these might not only improve clinical management but also reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection expansion. The following paper aimed to present the most crucial aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infection from the point of view of forensic experts and pathologists, recommendations and safety precautions regarding autopsies, autopsy room requirements, possible techniques, examinations used for effective viral detection, recommendations regarding burials, and gross and microscopic pathological findings of the deceased who died due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Autopsies remain the gold standard for determining the cause of death. Therefore, it would be beneficial to perform autopsies on patients with both suspected and confirmed COVID-19, especially those with coexisting comorbidities.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Autopsy, Forensic, Postmortem computed tomography, Burial, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, SARS-COV-2 infection, Infection, Comorbidities, risk, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, Viral, Patient, death, gold, Clinical management, Viral detection, expansion, respiratory, cause of death, information, mortality rates, Precaution, Deceased, real time, Autopsies, safety precautions, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, gold standard, epidemiological situation, exchange, Pathologists, gravity, Performing, recommendation, effective, IMPROVE, died, reduce, pathological finding, 【제목키워드】 recommendation, pathological finding,