Virchow's law of thrombosis states that thrombosis in a vessel occurs as a combination of the following: (i) injury to the vessel wall, (ii) stasis of blood flow, and (iii) blood hypercoagulability. Injury to the wall includes infection/inflammation and/or injury to the resident cells of the wall. We postulate that in COVID-19, the SARS-CoV-2 virus directly infects the alveolar type II cell or directly or indirectly infects/injures the pericyte, promoting inflammation and interaction with endothelial cells, thereby causing a cascade of events leading to our observation that thrombosis occurred within the walls of the pulmonary vessels and not in the lumen of the vascular circulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe vasa vasorum of the large pulmonary vessels is involved in the pathology of COVID-19. This specialized microvasculature plays a major role in the biology and pathology of the pulmonary vessel walls. We have evidence that thrombosis of the vasa vasorum of the large and medium-sized pulmonary vessels during severe COVID-19 causes ischemia and subsequent death of the pulmonary vasculature endothelium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe performed autopsies on two cases of COVID-19. The microcirculations of all organs were the site of the pathological findings. Thrombotic microangiopathy was found in the brain and also the kidneys.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on a 3-month old infant male who had a seven-days history of fever and rhinorrhea associated with wheezing prior to his death, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Viral testing for Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) was negative but was positive for Coronavirus 229E and RP Human Rhinovirus. The pulmonary histological examination showed diffuse alveolar damage along with thrombotic microangiopathy affecting alveolar capillaries.
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