Autopsy dissection techniques and investigations in deaths due to COVID-19 triggered fungal infections - A diagnostic review

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Review Article

Author Details : Amit Patil, Himanshi Narang*

Volume : 8, Issue : 4, Year : 2021

Article Page : 207-213

https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijfcm.2021.043

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which originated from Wuhan, China, has rapidly spread worldwide, including India. As India grappled with the second wave, COVID-triggered fungal infection has suddenly risen tremendously, raising a sense of panic in the country. The fungal infection in COVID-19 includes Mucormycosis and Aspergillosis, as common fungal infections primarily affecting rhino-orbital structures. Many research papers have published postmortem findings in autopsies conducted on COVID-19 decedents, thereby helping to understand this contagious disease's pathogenesis. But, with the arrival of COVID-triggered fungal infection, which is a crucial invasive disease responsible for fatality, very few research papers have commented on the postmortem findings of invasive fungal infections affecting the rhino-orbital and craniocerebral structures in COVID-19 deaths. Therefore, the role of invasive fungal infection due to COVID-19 illness must be established in the causation of deaths in COVID-19 patients. This review research deals with autopsy dissection techniques and possible postmortem findings of invasive fungal infections involving the nasal and paranasal sinuses and orbital structures in COVID-19 deaths. The findings of fungal infection affecting nasal and paranasal systems may not differ in live patients and in a deceased; however, it is essential that correct interpretation of the postmortem findings aided by pre-or post-autopsy investigations is necessary to establish the role of covid triggered fungal infection in such deaths.
 

Keywords: Covid­19 triggered fungal infection, Death, Autopsy Dissection, Investigations.

How to cite : Patil A, Narang H, Autopsy dissection techniques and investigations in deaths due to COVID-19 triggered fungal infections - A diagnostic review. Indian J Forensic Community Med 2021;8(4):207-213

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