Congenital infection of SARS-CoV-2 with intrauterine foetal death: a clinicopathological study with molecular analysis

Abstract

Observations of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection from mother to foetus have recently been described in the literature. However, the consequences of such transmission, whether foetal or neonatal, are poorly understood. From a case of in utero foetal death at 24 ⁺² weeks of gestation that occurred seven days after the diagnosis of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection in the mother, we isolated the incriminating virus by immunochemistry and molecular techniques in several foetal tissues, with a variant analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Moreover, the foetal demise could be explained by the presence of placental histological lesions, such as histiocytic intervillositis and trophoblastic necrosis, in addition to foetal tissue damage. We observed mild foetal growth retardation and visceral damage to the liver, causing hepatocellular damage and haemosiderosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature of foetal demise secondary to maternal-foetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 with a congenital infection and a pathological description of placental and foetal tissue damage. SARS-CoV-2 was identified in both specimens by three independent techniques (immunochemistry, RT-qPCR and RT-dPCR). Furthermore, the incriminating variant has been identified.