REVIEW   

Minerva Medica 2022 June;113(3):558-68

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4806.20.06719-1

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Beyond the lung involvement in COVID-19 patients

Domenico TUTTOLOMONDO ^{1, 2} ✉, Annalisa FRIZZELLI ², Marina AIELLO ², Giuseppina BERTORELLI ², Maria MAJORI ³, Alfredo CHETTA ²

¹ Department of Medicine and Surgery, Postgraduate School of Cardiology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; ² Unit of Respiratory Disease and Lung Function, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; ³ Unit of Pneumology and Endothoracic Endoscopy, Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Diseases, University Hospital, Parma, Italy

Since COVID-19 spread all over the world becoming a pandemic illness, researchers have better characterized route of virus transmissibility and clinical signs and symptoms of the disease. Since viral transmission occurs through the droplets emitted during coughing or sneezing, the lungs are primarily affected. However, SARS-CoV-2 can affect several human organs due to high expressions of ACE2 receptor which is the main viral target, and the virus may affect not only higher and lower respiratory tracts, but also heart, kidney, gastro enteric tract, liver, pancreas, nervous system and skin. This review focuses on extra pulmonary involvement underlying atypical presentation of COVID-19. There is a great body of evidence concerning several human organ abnormalities associated to the SARS-CoV-2, enough to consider COVID-19 as a multisystemic and polyhedral disease.

KEY WORDS: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Myocardium; Thrombosis; Kidney; Liver