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The Role of Histopathology Laboratory in Post-Mortem Examination of COVID-19 Cases: Challenges and Way forward

Ovye Engom Godiya Alaba, Emmanuel Uchenna Eric, Godwin Ovie Avwioro, Seyi Samson Enitan, Paul Adepoju, Abdulmumuni Samuel Aliyu, Gideon Taiwo Oluwaloye, Kester Awharentomah Digban, Richard Yomi Akele, Grace Eleojo Itodo, Comfort Bosede Enitan, Elizabeth Ifeanyi Onyeani

The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak which started about a year ago (late December, 2019) in Wuhan-China has escalated to 220 countries and territories of the world, resulting in the current pandemic with more than 70 million confirmed cases and over 1.5 million fatalities recorded so far as of December 11, 2020. The disease as we now know is a syndrome with more than 100 signs and symptoms on the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s list. Considering the novelty of the disease, significant research efforts are being made globally by Histopathologists through autopsy of suspected COVID-19 cases to help understand its pathogenesis, dynamics and other clinical findings. The so many acclaimed COVID-19 deaths need to be verified to ascertain the true cause of deaths. To this end, efforts are being made to differentiate those that died from and with the disease. Unfortunately, very little has been achieved through verbal autopsy. Hence, the role of the Histopathology laboratory in the post mortem examination (autopsy) of COVID-19 cases. Post mortem involves a systematic examination of human or animal body after death with the aim of determining and establishing the cause of death, character and extent of changes produced by the disease. It has become a major game changer providing valuable information on deaths resulting from not so well understood disease conditions such as COVID-19. At the onset of the outbreak, there are no enough clinical information on COVID-19 available to clinicians and other healthcare professionals. Hence the need for autopsy to reveal post mortem changes and pattern of the disease spread in the body. This current review therefore seeks to examine the role of the Histopathology laboratory in post-mortem examination of COVID-19 cases, the associated challenges in Nigeria and the way-forward.