Table 1.
Clinical characteristics and the primary cause of death of the 102 patients with positive SARS‐CoV‐2 tissue PCR at autopsy
| Clinical autopsies | Forensic autopsies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
COVID‐19‐related n = 30 |
Non‐COVID‐19‐related n = 12 |
p‐value |
COVID‐19‐related n = 50 |
Non‐COVID‐19‐related n = 10 |
p‐value | |
| Male, n (%) | 17 (57) | 5 (46) | 0.499 | 23 (46) | 6 (60) | 0.500 |
| Age, years | 67 ± 15 | 76 ± 13 | 0.056 | 79 ± 10 | 60 ± 21 | 0.017 |
| Age <60 years, n (%) | 10 (33) | 2 (17) | 0.453 | 2 (4) | 5 (50) | 0.001 |
| SARS‐CoV‐2 PCR positive prior to death, n | 22 of 26 tested | 3 of 6 tested | 0.101 | n.a. | n.a. | ‐ |
| Pre‐existing comorbidities, n (%) | ||||||
| Hypertension | 27 (90) | 11 (92) | 1.0 | 44 (80) | 7 (70) | 0.163 |
| Diabetes | 8 (27) | 2 (15) | 0.696 | n.d. | n.d. | ‐ |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 13 (43) | 8 (67) | 0.306 | 34 (68) | 4 (50) | 0.149 |
| COPD | 8 (27) | 0 | 0.128 | 4 (8) | 1 (10) | 1.000 |
| Obesity | 11 (37) | 1 (8) | 0.070 | n.d. | n.d. | ‐ |
| CHF | 4 (13) | 6 (50) | 0.020 | 5 (10) | 1 (10) | 1.000 |
| Ischaemic stroke | 6 (20) | 5 (42) | 0.243 | 6 (12) | 1 (10) | 1.000 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 8 (28) | 4 (33) | 0.704 | n.d. | n.d. | ‐ |
| No risk factors | 1 (3) | 1 (8) | 0.495 | 3 (6) | 3 (30) | 0.052 |
| Significant/minimal/no DAD by autopsy, n (%) | 30/0/0 | 1/1/10 | <0.001 | 50/0/0 | 1/4/5 | <0.001 |
| Primary cause of death | DAD – 23 | CHF – 4 | DAD – 43 | Ruptured aortic aneurism – 1 | ||
| PE – 2 | PE – 2 | Lymphocyte myocarditis – 1 | Cancer – 3 | |||
| Ischaemic stroke – 1 | Bacterial pneumonia – 2 | Myocardial infarction – 1 | Ruptured intracranial aneurism – 1 | |||
| ICH – 1 | Sepsis – 1 | Ischaemic stroke – 1 | Bacterial pneumonia – 2 | |||
| CMV pneumonia – 1 | Ischaemic stroke – 2 | Head trauma – 1 | Head trauma – 3 | |||
| Cancer – 1 | Tuberculosis – 1 | ICH – 1 | ||||
| Sepsis – 1 | Cancer – 2 | |||||
CHF, congestive heart failure; CMV, cytomegalovirus; DAD, diffuse alveolar damage; DAD, diffuse alveolar damage; ICH, intracranial haemorrhage; n.a., not applicable; n.d., no data; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.