TABLE 1.
Overall clinical and neuropathological characteristics
| Code | PMD (days/hours) | Demographics and clinical features | Neuropathological changes (immunohistochemistry) | SARS‐COV‐2 PCR | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | Age (y/o) | Anamnesis; cause of death | NCD | DEL | SEP | NP diagnosis | B | Ts | Microglia (CD68) | Lymphocytes (CD3‐CD20) | SARS‐COV‐2 | Vessels (CD34) | Gliosis (GFAP) | RT‐PCR | dd‐PCR | ||
| COV2 | 7 d | M | 29 | NR; hemorrhagic shock due to accident | No | No | No | No AD, no SVD | 0 | 0 | F‐HC:++ BS:+++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Moderate tufts in BS | Mild, RA | n/a | n/a |
| COV4 | 5 d | M | 67 | Obesity, HTN, CVD; CIP, respiratory failure and sepsis | No | No | Yes | No AD, SVD | 0 | 0 | F‐HC:+ BS:+++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Normal | Mild | − | + |
| COV6 | 11 d | F | 90 | HTN, COPD; respiratory failure | No | No | No | Low AD | 2 | 2 | F‐HC:+ BS:++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Moderate tufts in BS | Mild | − | + |
| COV3 | 7 d | M | 87 | T2D, CVD; respiratory failure | Mild (VCI) | Hyper/Hypo, (early onset) | No | Low AD, SVD | 2 | 1 | F‐HC:++ BS:++ | Rare perivascular | Very rare cells in BS | Normal | Mild | − | + |
| COV10 | 7 d | M | 81 | AF, paraparesis (previous GBS); respiratory failure and sepsis | Mild (VCI) | Hypo, (late onset) | Yes | No AD, SVD | 1 | 0 | F‐HC:+ BS:++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Rare tufts in BS | Perivascular | − | + |
| COV1 | 7 d | F | 74 | NR; respiratory failure | Major (AD) | Hyper, (early onset) | No | High AD | 6 | 4 | F‐HC:+++ BS:++ | None | Negative | Abundant tufts in BS | Perivascular | − | − |
| COV5 | 3 d | F | 94 | T2D, HTN, CVD, AF; sepsis | Major (AD + VaD) | Hypo, (early onset) | Yes | Intermediate AD, SVD | 4 | 3 | F‐HC:++ BS:++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Moderate tufts in BS | Mild, RA | − | + |
| COV8 | 13 d | F | 83 | HTN; respiratory failure | Major (AD) | No | No | Intermediate AD | 4 | 3 | F‐ HC:+ BS:++ | None | Negative | Normal | Perivascular, RA | − | + |
| COV9 | 6 d | M | 92 | HTN, Cerebrovascular disease; respiratory failure | Major (AD + VaD) | Hyper/Hypo, (late onset) | No | Intermediate AD, SVD | 5 | 3 | F:++ HC:+++ BS:+++ | Rare perivascular | Negative | Abundant tufts in BS | Perivascular, RA | − | + |
| BB71 | 6 h | F | 79 | CVD; cardiogenic shock | No | No | No | Low AD | 2 | 1 | F‐HC:+ BS:++ | Rare perivascular | n/a | Rare tufts in BS | None | n/a | n/a |
| BB118 | 3 h | M | 79 | T2D; liver cancer | No | No | No | No AD | 1 | 1 | F‐HC:+ BS:+ | None | Negative control | Moderate tufts in BS | None | − | − |
| BB102 | 8 h | M | 79 | HTN, CVD, cerebrovascular disease; cachexia | Mild (VCI), hemiparesis | No | No | No AD, stroke and SVD | 0 | 1 | F‐HC:+ BS:+ | Rare parenchymal | n/a | Normal | None | n/a | n/a |
| BB137 | 16 h | F | 83 | HTN, CVD, cerebrovascular disease; CHF | Major (AD + VaD) | No | No | Intermediate AD, stroke | 6 | 3 | HC:+ F‐BS:++ | Rare perivascular | n/a | Rare tufts in BS | Severe | n/a | n/a |
| BB138 | 15 h | F | 85 | CVD, cerebrovascular disease; CHF | Major (AD + VaD) | Hyper, (prev. ep) | No | High AD, SVD | 5 | 5 | F‐HC:++ BS:++ | Moderate perivascular | n/a | Rare tufts in BS | Severe | − | − |
| BB210 | 15 h | F | 89 | HTN, COPD, cerebrovascular disease; cachexia | Major (AD) | Hyper, (prev. ep) | No | High AD | 5 | 5 | F:+++ HC‐BS:++ | Rare parenchymal | n/a | Moderate tufts in BS | Severe | n/a | n/a |
COVID‐19 cases are labeled as ‘COV’ and control cases are identified as ‘BB’ (for Brain Bank); PMD is measured in days (d) or hours (h).
Abbreviations: AD, Alzheimer's disease; AF, atrial fibrillation; B, Braak stage; BS, brainstem; COV, COVID‐19 (+); CHF, chronic heart failure; CIP, critical illness polyneuropathy; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; dd‐PCR, droplet digital polymerase chain reaction; DEL, delirium; F, frontal lobe; GBS, Guillain Barre Syndrome; GFAP, Glial fibrillary acidic protein; HC, hippocampus; HTN, hypertension; n/a, not available; NCD, neurocognitive disorder; NP, neuropathological; NR, nothing relevant in medical history; PMD, post mortem delay; prev. ep., previous episode; RA, reactive astrocytes; RT‐PCR, real‐time transcription‐polymerase chain reaction; SEP, sepsis; SVD, small vessel disease (moderate to severe); Ts, Thal stage; T2D, type 2 diabetes; T, temporal lobe; VaD, vascular dementia; VCI, vascular cognitive impairment.