MORPHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE LUNGS IN POST-COVID-19 SYNDROME: ANALYSIS OF AUTOPSY MATERIAL.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to reveal the morphological features of the lungs in post-COVID-19 syndrome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The material of the study was autopsy material - fragments of the lung tissue from 96 deceased (59 men and 37 women). During the lifetime, all patients had in anamnesis COVID-19 of varying severity, and after the treatment of this infection, they had various manifestations of respiratory failure until death. The average duration of the post-COVID-19 period was 148.6±9.5 days. Based on the severity of COVID-19 in anamnesis, all cases were divided into three groups. Group 1 included 39 cases with mild COVID-19 in anamnesis. Group 2 included 24 cases with moderate severity of COVID-19 in an-amnesis. Group 3 included 33 cases with severe COVID-19 in anamnesis. Histological, histochemical, morphometric and statistical research methods were used. RESULTS: Results: Morphological features of the lungs in post-COVID-19 syndrome were the presence of pneumosclerosis; focal-diffuse immune cells infiltration; emphysematous and atelectatic changes; degenerative-desquamatic changes in the alveolar epithelium; metaplastic changes of connective tissue; dystrophic calcification; dystrophic, metaplastic and dysplastic changes in the epithelial layer of bronchial tree; hemodynamic disorders. Pneumosclerosis, focal-diffuse immune cells infiltration, alterative changes in the alveolar epithelium, emphysematous and atelectatic changes, hemodynamic disorders increased with an increase the severity of COVID-19. Metaplastic changes of connective tissue, dystrophic calcification, dystrophic, metaplastic and dysplastic changes in epithelial layer of bronchial tree did not depend on the severity of the infection. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The changes identified by the authors help to explain pulmonary manifestations of post-COVID-19 syndrome. They should be the basis for the oncological alertness formation among doctors, the development of rehabilitation and treatment measures for such category of patients.

MORPHOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE OF SMALL AND LARGE INTESTINE IN PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 AND IN POST-COVID-19 PERIOD.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To reveal the morphological and functional features of the mucous membrane of small and large intestine in patients with COVID-19 and in post-COVID-19 period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: In the present study, the authors used biopsy and autopsy material represented by the fragments of the mucous membrane of small and large intestine. All studied material was divided into 10 groups. Group 1 (comparison group) included autopsy material from the deceased who did not have COVID-19 during their lifetime. Groups 2-4 included autopsy material from the deceased who had COVID-19 of varying severity during their lifetime. Groups 5-7 included biopsy material from patients who had recovered from COVID-19 of varying severity, while the duration of the post-COVID period ranged from 1 to 50 days. Groups 8-10 included biopsy material from patients who had in anamnesis COVID-19 of varying severity (the duration of the post-COVID period lasted from 51 to 100 days). Histological, immunohistochemical, morphometric and statistical research methods were used. RESULTS: Results: The comparative analysis showed a more expressed deficiency of ACE2 in the mucous membrane of small and large intestine in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 compared with patients in post-COVID-19 period of different duration. In patients who had moderate and severe COVID-19 in anamnesis, ACE2 deficiency decreases with increasing duration of post-COVID-19 period. In patients recovered from mild COVID-19, the ACE2 content increases with the duration of post-COVID-19 period from 1 to 50 days and corresponds to the norm with the duration of this period from 51 to 100 days. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The comprehensive morphological study conducted by the authors made it possible, firstly, to clarify the morphological and functional features of the mucous membrane of small and large intestine in patients with COVID-19 of various degrees of severity; secondly, to obtain new data about the morpho-functional state of the mucous membrane of small and large intestine in patients, taking into account different duration of the post-COVID-19 period and the severity of the infection.

MALIGNANT TUMORS OF THE APPENDIX: CLINICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CASES FROM THE PRACTICE.

The authors have analyzed medical histories of two patients, treated in health care facilities of Kharkiv region from 2008 to 2020. These patients underwent urgent appendectomy, given the existing clinic of acute appendicitis. Morphological examination of the surgical material allowed us to diagnose adenocarcinoma in one case, and neuroendocrine tumor in combination with endometriosis in the other case. Morphological examination of the surgical material in the first case revealed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and diffuse neutrophilic infiltration in all layers of the appendix, and in the second case - a well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor (G3), combined with the signs of phlegmonous-ulcerative appendicitis and loci of endometriosis. In both cases, there were no specific for the oncological process anamnestic and clinical-instrumental data, and these tumors were manifested by the clinic of acute appendicitis. Only morphological examination of the surgical material allowed identifying the pathological process. Clinical and morphological analysis of cases from the practice of malignant tumors of the appendix (neuroendocrine tumor and adenocarcinoma) will be useful and interesting for the medical community and should stimulate cancer vigilance in physicians.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTOPSY MATERIAL IN CASES OF CHRONIC DIFFUSE PATHOLOGY OF THE LIVER PARENCHYMA DIAGNOSED DURING PATIENT'S LIFETIME USING THE ULTRASOUND METHOD.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: Of the study is to analyze autopsy cases where chronic diffuse pathology of the liver parenchyma was diagnosed during patient's lifetime using the ultrasound method. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Material and methods: In this study archival material (autopsy protocols and microspecimens of these cases) of the pathological anatomy department of the Communal Nonprofit Enterprise «Regional Clinical Hospital¼ (Kharkiv) was used for the period from 2012 to 2018. The cases diagnosed with a chronic diffuse pathology of the liver parenchyma according to ultrasound data were selected among all cases. Microspecimens stained with hematoxylin and eosin, picrofuxin according to van Gieson were examined using an Olympus BX-41 microscope (Japan). The obtained digital indicators were statistically processed using the programs Statistica 6.0, Microsoft Excel 2003. To compare the parameters, parametric and nonparametric methods were used (Student's t-test, χ2 criterion, Mann-Whitney U-test). Differences were considered significant at p<0.05. RESULTS: Results: According to the analysis of archival material for the period from 2012 to 2018, there was no change in the relative number of cases with fatty hepatosis, fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver, chronic hepatitis, malignant tumors of the liver, metastatic liver damage and liver infiltration by leukemic cells, liver abscesses. Among all cases with revealed liver pathology, both separately by year and as a whole for the entire studied period, a predominance of the relative number of cases with fatty hepatosis, fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver was noted. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The term «chronic diffuse pathology of the liver parenchyma¼, which is widely used in ultrasound diagnostics, is morphologically a collective term that combines pathological conditions such as fatty hepatosis, fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver, chronic hepatitis, malignant tumors of the liver, metastatic liver damage and liver infiltration by leukemic cells, liver abscesses. The ultrasound term «chronic diffuse pathology of the liver parenchyma¼ needs to be improved as well as additional diagnostic criteria should be developed in order to correctly use it in practice and avoid diagnostic errors.

Clinical and morphological features of the ovarian brenner tumour: current state of the problem.

OBJECTIVE: Introduction: Ovarian tumours are an actual problem of present-day medicine, being one of the most difficult sections of modern oncology. The majority of ovarian tumours are of epithelial origin. The ovarian Brenner tumour represents a rare epithelial ovarian neoplasm and accounts for 1-2% of all ovarian neoplasms. The aim of the study is to identify clinical and morphological features of ovarian Brenner tumour. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The material was 5 cases of Brenner ovarian tumour, diagnosed in the study of 4 cases of operational material and 1 case of autopsy observation for the period from 2007 to 2019. Histological and immunohistochemical staining methods were used. The microspecimens were examined on an Olympus BX-41 microscope (Japan). RESULTS: Results: Ovarian Brenner tumour is a rather rare pathology, the histogenesis of which is debatable. Morphological examination is the main method for its diagnosing. Ovarian Brenner tumours developed in women of middle and old age (the average age was 51.8 years). Women with a malignant ovarian Brenner tumour were older than women with a benign variant (the average age in women with a malignant variant was 55.8 years, with a benign variant - 49.3 years). Benign ovarian Brenner tumour occurred more frequently compared with a malignant one. Malignant and benign variants of ovarian Brenner tumour were characterized by a one-sided nature of the lesion with frequent involvement in the pathological process of the left ovary. Clinically, in patients with a benign variant of the Brenner tumour in all cases an abdominal pain syndrome was determined, combined in one case with metrorrhagia. A malignant ovarian Brenner tumour was clinically manifested by severe abdominal pain syndrome, combined in one case with complaints of an increase in the size of the abdomen, and in another case with intoxication syndrome and a clinic of small bowel obstruction. In all cases a malignant ovarian Brenner tumour metastasized to the omentum and in one case also to the small intestine wall. Macroscopically the ovarian Brenner tumour had the form of a node, the dimensions of which were significantly larger for the malignant variant compared with a benign, dense or soft consistency, on the cross section of a whitish-gray or brown color with cysts. A damaged ovary with a malignant variant of Brenner tumour significantly increased in size, while with a benign one, its size did not change or increased slightly. In all cases the malignant and benign variants of ovarian Brenner tumour were combined with various reproductive system organs pathologies (mucinous papillary cystadenoma of the ovary, serous ovarian cyst, ovarian endometriosis, endometrial hyperplasia, cervical nabothian cysts, uterine leiomyoma). CONCLUSION: Conclusions: A study conducted by the authors revealed clinical and morphological features of a rare ovarian tumour - Brenner tumour, which will contribute to a better understanding of this pathology by the doctors of various specialties, and improve the treatment and diagnostic process.

Clinical-morphological features of wilms' tumour: analysis of literature data and a case from practice

Wilms' tumour, or nephroblastoma, is a malignant tumour, originating from nephrogenic germ cells that copy histology of developing kidneys and often contain cells at different stages of their differentiation. The article analyses clinical-morphological features of Wilms' tumour, which is typical for childhood and seldom occurs in adults. The authors suppose that one of the causes of Wilms' tumour development can be maternal complications, which arise during pregnancy, leading to inhibition of glomerulogenesis and tubulogenesis in the offspring kidneys, an increase the number of foci of primitive (immature) tissue, from which this tumour, as it is known, can originate. The described саse from practice of Wilms' tumour is of particular interest because of an untypical age category, when the above pathology was diagnosed, demonstrates necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to its identification and necessitates its inclusion into the differential diagnostic line for the detection of kidneys tumours in adults.