Case Report: Hypercoagulopathy as a Severe Long-term Complication of Post SARS-CoV-19 Infection, Autopsy Findings in Three Patients

Abstract

Background: It has been less than two years since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are plenty of publications describing the clinical and pathological features of this severe infectious disease, damaging not only lung but also other vital organs. However, the pathologic findings of long-term complications post virus infection have rarely been described. Case presentation: We are reporting three autopsy cases from patients who had COVID-19 one to six months before death. The patients were all SARS-CoV-2 negative at admission but expired shortly. At autopsy, the first patient showed subacute diffuse myocardial ischemic injury with microthrombi in pericardial small vessels, whereas the second patient showed catastrophic acute and subacute pulmonary infarctions with hemothorax leading to respiratory failure. The third patient showed subacute severe cerebral infarcts in the left middle cerebral artery region. Conclusions: Our findings suggest the hypercoagulopathy and subsequent vital organ damage may persist beyond the active phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It is essential to evaluate and continue monitoring the COVID-19 patients after recovery, so as to identify the ones with vital organ injury in a timely manner and to take the steps to prevent severe consequence of COVID-19 complications.