The Immunopathological and Histological Landscape of COVID-19-Mediated Lung Injury
Giovanni Zarrilli, Valentina Angerilli, Gianluca Businello, Marta Sbaraglia, Giulia Traverso, Francesco Fortarezza, Stefania Rizzo, Monica De Gaspari, Cristina Basso, Fiorella Calabrese, Angelo Paolo Dei Tos, Matteo Fassan
Abstract
A complete understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) physiopathology and related histopathologic lesions is necessary to improve treatment and outcome of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Many studies have focused on autopsy findings in COVID-19-related deaths to try and define any possible specific pattern. Histopathologic alterations are principally found within lungs and blood vessels, and these abnormalities also seem to have the highest clinical impact. Nevertheless, many of the morphological data collected so far are non-specific, fickle, and possibly associated with other co-existing factors. The aim of this minireview is to describe the main histopathological features related to COVID-19 and the mechanism known as "cytokine storm".