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Why do some patients die after a Covid 19 disease and how do the organs change? A network of pathologists in Baden-Württemberg autopsied the bodies of the deceased and is amazed.
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Tübingen – According to a Tübingen pathologist, people are more willing to have their relatives who have died of Covid-19 autopsied than for deaths from other causes of death. In principle, relatives are asked whether they agree to an examination of the corpse, says Hans Bösmüller, the senior physician in pathology at the Tübingen University Hospital. “However, some of them themselves wanted an autopsy because they wanted to find out more about the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved one.”
Since last spring, around 20 people who have died in connection with the coronavirus have been autopsied at the Tübingen pathology department. Pathology Tübingen is part of a network of pathologies in Baden-Württemberg, whose Covid 19 research is funded and financially supported by the Ministry of Science in Stuttgart. So far, almost 100 autopsies have been performed on these, says Bösmüller.
Land support autopsy research
Only the autopsy could clarify what Covid-19 patients with severe courses ultimately die of, says Science Minister Theresia Bauer (Greens). “Because autopsies provide important findings, the state is currently supporting Covid-19 autopsy research in Baden-Württemberg’s university pathologies with around 1.8 million euros.” The network includes the pathologies of the medical faculties in Heidelberg, Mannheim, Tübingen, Freiburg and Ulm.
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The results of the autopsies astonished him and his colleagues, says Bösmüller. “We found many organ changes in a form that we had not previously observed in this massive amount.” Two thirds of the examined were patients in an intensive care unit and between the ages of 18 and 90 years. Important organs are removed in an autopsy, says Bösmüller. These included the lungs, heart, stomach and intestines, liver, kidneys and brain. This is followed by the examination of the tissue samples fixed in formalin. The human shell goes to the undertaker.
At the end of February 2020, Bösmüller was one of the first people in Baden-Württemberg to test positive for the corona virus. The 60-year-old had a cough and a fever and is now not feeling any long-term effects of the infection. Bösmüller is confident that life for society will be easier and more constructive after the necessary vaccinations. “I’m optimistic that maybe in the summer you can grill a few sausages with your friends again.”
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