key: cord-0760278-2wqpqbwk
authors: Giorgetti, Arianna; Orazietti, Vasco; Busardò, Francesco Paolo; Pirani, Filippo; Giorgetti, Raffaele
title: Died with or Died of? Development and Testing of a SARS CoV-2 Significance Score to Assess the Role of COVID-19 in the Deaths of Affected Patients
date: 2021-01-28
journal: Diagnostics (Basel)
DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics11020190
sha: e8031a0f4c347553fb65a87b5fe05ed62f77c9fb
doc_id: 760278
cord_uid: 2wqpqbwk

Since December 2019, a new form of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has spread from China to the whole word, raising concerns regarding Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) endangering public health and life. Over 1.5 million deaths related with COVID-19 have been recorded worldwide, with wide variations among countries affected by the pandemic and continuously growing numbers. The aim of this paper was to provide an overview of the literature cases of deaths involving COVID-19 and to evaluate the application of the COVID-19 Significance Score (CSS) in the classification of SARS CoV-2-related fatalities, comparing it with the Hamburg rating scale. The results obtained allowed us to highlight that CSS used after a complete accurate post-mortem examination, coupled to the retrieval of in vivo data, post-mortem radiology, histology and toxicology, as well as to additional required analyses (e.g., electronic microscopy) is a useful and concise tool in the assessment of the cause of death and the role played by this virus. A shared use of this scale might hopefully lower the inhomogeneities in forensic evaluation of SARS CoV-2-related fatalities.

In December 2019, starting from the urban area of Wuhan, a new form of coronavirus, SARS CoV-2, began to spread firstly to a national level, and rapidly to the whole world. Its diffusion was so fast that on March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic [1] . At the time of the present article (December 2020), the cases of COVID-19 registered in the world have reached 68, 679, 195 , with 47,583,441 patients completely recovered. Active cases amount to 19,530,028, 0.5% of which are in severe or critical conditions. Most affected countries include the United States, India and Brazil. Deaths related to COVID-19 amount to 1,565,726, with wide variations among countries affected by the pandemic and continuously growing numbers [2] .

Global research efforts have been, since then, focused on studying the natural history of the disease, the immune responses, rapid and reliable diagnostic testing and on understanding the mechanisms underlying the clinical picture, with the aim of better treating affected patients and developing an effective vaccine as soon as possible. Although several vaccines have shown promising results in phases 2 and 3 of the experimental studies [3, 4] , long-term effects of COVID-19 and of related counteracting drugs and therapies might continue for years. The COVID-19 death toll is reported everyday nation by nation and is one of the main aspects of health surveillance, which guides health and social policies.

In this context, the distinction between "died from" and "died with" COVID-19 still represents an under-addressed and unsolved issue [5, 6] . Often it is a difficult task for a medical practitioner to establish into which of these categories a death falls; indeed, distinguishing between "dying with" and "dying from" COVID-19 requires more complex investigation into the cause of a death, beyond citing a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Although some clinical conditions, as well as laboratory and imaging alterations, are known to be associated with a worse outcome [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] , there are still difficulties in classifying COVID-19 related deaths [14] , due to the lack of consensus criteria. Throwing light on what is being counted as a COVID-19 death is also essential to understand the impact of the virus and to inform the public. According to the "International guidelines for certification and classification of COVID-19 as cause of death", published last April by the World Health organization (WHO) and based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a clinical-based categorization of COVID-19 deaths can be performed by recording a pathophysiological sequence of the clinical conditions leading to death, as well as other contributing causes [15, 16] . Medical certifications of death compiled for research and surveillance purposes by treating physicians have relevant consequences, e.g., they might bias scientific studies for the development of clinical risk prediction models or prevent the development of public health safety measures [17, 18] . COVID-19 might be a direct cause, an underlying cause of death or a contributing condition. Even probable infections are acceptable in death certificates and do not necessarily point to the need for a judicial autopsy or a coroner intervention, even if it is a notifiable disease [15] . Though most autopsies are not necessary for laboratory-confirmed deaths [15] , in the absence of a probable cause of death or when there is a suspect of medical liability, a post-mortem examination might be necessary [15, 17] . It is well documented that the clinical cause of death might not coincide with the pathological one [19, 20] and, notwithstanding increasingly accurate laboratory and instrumental techniques, the role of the autopsy still remains relevant [21] . Since this virus belongs to Hazard group 3, in the early stages, very few autopsies were performed on COVID-19 patients, leading to a loss of valuable information. With the aim of reducing biological risk for contagion, several guidelines have been developed [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] . While some authors have proposed the use of "special autopsy facilities", others promoted a shift towards minimally invasive autopsies, performed by ultrasound-guided biopsies in different organs [32, 33] . However, the latter may not provide a complete picture, making it difficult to answer questions about exact causes of death and SARS CoV-2 liability.

As recently reported, a COVID-19 Significance Score (CSS) has been proposed [34] . The CSS classifies fatalities involving COVID-19 into four categories (as also suggested in other forensic disciplines, e.g., toxicology) [35, 36] :

• 0: COVID-19 is merely an occasion; it has no role in the patient's death. In the application of the CSS, the following features must be taken into consideration:

1.

Presence and severity of COVID-19, considering both in vivo and postmortem data (natural history of disease, results of upper and lower airway swabs, clinical records, laboratory tests).

Presence and severity of comorbidities. It has been widely demonstrated that the presence of comorbidities is more frequently related to a different natural history in SARS-Cov-2 infection.

Circumstances of death. External traumatic events, e.g., a fatal car accident, involving a patient infected by SARS CoV-2 might rule out the responsibility of the virus in Diagnostics 2021, 11, 190 3 of 43 the death. This might be less evident in suicides. Indeed, cases of Corona Suicide have been reported worldwide [37] and COVID-19 might play an indirect role, by ingenerating fear, burden and a sense of responsibility for having infected other people, especially the closest relations. 4.

Post-mortem imaging. Together with the tests performed in vivo or individually, post mortem radiology, including X-rays and post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT), may offer prominent information about the severity of the infection, as well as on any other alterations not clinically appreciable. However, due to the biological risk, these examinations should be carried out according to appropriate safety protocols and in any case should not hinder the hospital routine. 5.

Macroscopic and microscopic autopsy findings. Autopsy plays a central role in the development of this score, as information that can be obtained from this examination cannot be provided by any other imaging or laboratory test. 6.

Toxicological evaluation. A screening of the most common substances of abuse could be useful to exclude acute intoxications. As often happens in comorbid patients, the consumption of multiple drugs might lead to adverse events and exitus even at concentrations lower than the toxic levels, due to synergic effects. Insufficient dosages of a necessary drug might as well explain a death and these possibilities require a quantitative analysis. 7.

Additional analyzes. When required by the case in question, such as bacterial culture, virological tests and other specific exams.

The aim of the present work is to provide an overview of the literature cases of deaths involving COVID-19 and to evaluate the application of the CSS in the classification of SARS CoV-2-related fatalities, comparing it with other rating scales currently available

A systematic review of the available literature was performed, seeking information regarding post-mortem examinations performed on the deceased who had tested positive for SARS Cov-2, with the infection confirmed in vivo and/or after death (topic of the search and main inclusion criteria). Data was collected from May 2020 to August 2020, by performing a search on an international database (Pubmed) using the following search terms. The keyword "covid" (variably written) was linked through the Boolean operator "AND" to the following terms, alternatively: "autopsy", "full autopsy", "post-mortem".

Inclusion criteria were: relevance to the topic; English, Spanish, German or Italian language; date of publication (up to 31 July 2020); retrievability of a full-text.

Papers that did not report the results of a post-mortem examination, e.g., publications dealing with the health care personnel safety or technical aspects of post-mortem examinations, cases analyzed only by post-mortem biopsies performed on a single organ and papers from which individual patient data could not be extracted, were excluded from the work (exclusion criteria).

A database with the results was created in Microsoft Excel and the following data, organized in two sections, were extracted.

In vivo data: in addition to the patient's personal details (age and sex), the history of the disease, any comorbidities, medications taken before and during the SARS CoV-2 infection, information about the swab, laboratory and imaging (e.g., X-rays and computed tomography or CT) data. • Post-mortem data: death circumstances, any post-mortem imaging examinations, type of postmortem examination (full, partial, histology), macro and microscopic features emerged from the autopsy and related analyses, cause of death (when specified) and the role played by SARS CoV-2 as reported by the authors.

A short and easy guiding tool has been developed in order to facilitate the application of the CSS across original points 1 to 6 [34] . The features considered in this guide refer to the most frequent pictures described in literature to date. For this reason, the CSS is not to be considered as a definitive tool, but susceptible to modifications and improvements along with the progress of the state of the art. * in case of suicide, the liability, even if indirect, for SARS CoV-2 cannot be excluded. Any useful information, such as a history of psychiatric pathologies, should therefore be evaluated carefully.

All literature cases were classified according to the CSS by three independent blinded investigators and the inter-rater agreement was assessed by non-parametric ANOVA.

In a recent study performed at the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf, Edler et al. also proposed a classification system for deaths involving COVID-19 [38] . In the paper, the first 80 consecutive autopsies carried out on patients positive to COVID-19, who died in Hamburg, were reported. In fact, the approach used in the federal state of Hamburg is to examine all the deceased citizens with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, subjecting the bodies to a PMCT and performing a complete autopsy (by opening the three cavities and dissection of all organs). The results of the exams are then progressively uploaded to a national register, with the purpose of collecting data from all the autopsies performed in Germany on COVID-19 patients. Based on clinical information, PMCT and autopsy findings, the researchers propose a categorization of COVID-19 positive deaths, in order to determine whether the virus was the cause of death or whether exitus occurred independently from it.

This scale, just like the CSS, ranks COVID-19 related death into 4 categories: 1-definite COVID-19 death: autoptic pneumonia and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); 2-probable COVID-19 death: Autoptic pneumonia and/or ARDS and other infectious causes of death (e.g., pulmonary embolism); 3-possible COVID-19 death: cause of death to determine whether the virus was the cause of death or whether exitus occurred independently from it. This scale, just like the CSS, ranks COVID-19 related death into 4 categories: 1-definite COVID-19 death: autoptic pneumonia and/or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); 2-probable COVID-19 death: Autoptic pneumonia and/or ARDS and other infectious causes of death (e.g., pulmonary embolism); 3-possible COVID-19 death: cause of death that cannot be determined with certainty by autopsy (e.g., cardiac arrhythmia in cardiomyopathy) OR autoptic respiratory tract infection/pneumonia of other genesis (e.g., aspiration pneumonia, exacerbated COPD); 4-SARS-CoV-2 detection with cause of death not associated to COVID-19: Clear non-SARS-CoV-2-related cause of death (e.g., brain mass hemorrhage in hypertension, acute myocardial infarction in coronary thrombosis.

A death corresponding to categories 1-3 is defined as "COVID-19 death" (corresponding to CSS 3-1), therefore, COVID-19 related, while category 4 contains deaths not related to COVID-19 (corresponding to CSS = 0).

Within the post-mortem cases reported by the University of Hamburg-Eppendorf, the mean among the CSS assigned by the three raters and the Hamburg scores were compared by means of non-parametric t-test.

Thirty articles were included in the present literature review, corresponding to 84 post mortem examinations. Results of the selection process are shown in Figure 1 , and detailed data for each case are reported in Table 1 . Fourteen studies describe multiple cases [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] , while 16 were case reports [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] . The highest sample size corresponded to 14 cases. 

Covid AND full autopsy n = 8

Covid AND post-mortem n = 228

Abstracts assessed for eligibility n = 362

Full-texts assessed for eligibility n = 37

Papers excluded by exclusion criteria n = 325

Papers excluded by filtering for:

• Language Victims were mostly male (58 cases), with a mean age of 65.3 years (median: 70.5, lower limit: 17, 25% percentile: 55.5; 75% percentile: 76.0; upper limit: 91). Since the exact age was not reported in two cases, defined as "middle aged", in the mean calculation they were both considered to be 55 years old. All the cases tested positive for SARS CoV-2 RNA, with swabs performed in vivo and/or post-mortem. Seventy-four victims had comorbidities, though no information was reported in 5 cases, and of these, the majority (56 cases) had 2 or more diseases, up to a maximum of 14. The most frequently reported were: arterial hypertension (in 41 cases, 55%), diabetes mellitus (in 28 cases, 37.8%) and obesity (in 24 cases, 32.4%).

Signs and symptoms of SARS Cov-2 infection were reported in 65 out of 84 cases. Respiratory symptoms were described in 50 cases, fever in 47, cough in 34. Fatigue/myalgia (11 times), gastrointestinal symptoms (10 times), alterations of consciousness, e.g., delirium/confusion/syncope (8 times), chills (6 times), tachycardia (5 times) and headache (4 times) were less common. Even more rarely hypotension, incontinence, chest pain and balance disorders (like dizziness/postural instability), described each in 2 cases, were reported. Acute kidney injury, acute cardiomyopathy, bradycardia, atrioventricular block, cardiac arrest, hemoptysis, hematuria, sore throat, sinusitis and anorexia were reported only one 1 time. In one case, unspecified systemic symptoms were described. Among the 49 cases whose laboratory abnormalities were reported, the most frequently encountered changes were elevated c-reactive protein (CRP) (51%), lymphocytopenia (46.9%), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (38.7%), elevated creatinine (26.5%), elevated D-dimer (24.4%), leukocytosis (22.4%). Other alterations, such as in the values of fibrinogen, troponins, ferritin and Il-6, were rarely found.

Data on medications were available in 13 patients, 12 of whom were taking therapy for their previous conditions, while drugs administered during COVID-19 were reported in 55 out of 84 cases. The most common drugs included antibiotics (52.7%), antivirals (34.5%), hydroxychloroquine (32.7%), vasopressors (10, 18.1%), corticosteroids (12.7%), anticoagulants and heparins (12.7%) and biologics (10.9%). Diuretics, pain relievers and other medications were used in less than 5 patients (9%). The use of non-invasive ventilatory support was specified in 21 patients (38.1%), while 33 cases (60%) required intubation during hospitalization for COVID-19. Finally, 6 patients underwent hemodialysis (10.9%), while extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used in 2 of them (3.6%).

The majority (73) of the deaths occurred in a hospital setting, i.e., intensive care or other wards, while among the 11 out of the hospital cases, 3 occurred in nursing homes, 5 patients were found dead in their homes, 1 in his car, while in 2 cases the data were not extractable. Post mortem examinations performed included complete autopsies (29 cases), partial autopsies (33 cases) and post mortem histology (22 cases). The histological samples involved the lung in all the 22 cases, heart in 10 cases, liver in 13, airways in 7, kidney in 2 and gastrointestinal tract in 2.

Imaging studies have been reported in 65 cases. Of these, in vivo imaging was performed in 50, post mortem in 14, both in 1. On in vivo radiographs, the most commonly reported features were bilateral patchy opacities and/or consolidations (60.7%), and 39.2% of chest CT showed ground glass opacity and/or consolidations. Post-mortem chest X-ray was performed in 2 cases and displayed bilateral opacities, while by PMCT, various degrees of pulmonary consolidation (80%), presence of reticular pattern (60%), pleural and/or pericardial effusions (40%) were described, as well as less represented features, e.g., emphysema, ground glass opacities and evidence of neoplastic lesions.

As for the autopsy room, macroscopic changes were described in several organs, although with a variable frequency, also caused by pre-existing pathologies. The most affected organs were lungs/airways in 51 of 54 cases, heart and vascular system in 33, liver in 12, kidneys in 11, spleen in 9, lymph nodes in 6 and CNS in 5 cases. Lungs were commonly described as heavy and edematous, with or without intraparenchymal hemorrhages or emboli. A macroscopic feature of pneumonia was also quite frequent, while purulent infections, empyema or green exudate were rarer. Extra-pulmonary common features included heart hypertrophy, though this is unlikely connected with COVID-19, enlargement of the spleen and of the lymph nodes. Alterations found in the gastrointestinal tract, prostate, skin, testis and other anatomical parts were much rarer. A similar picture was found in microscopic examinations of tissues, with lung/airways affected in all the 84 cases, liver in 40, heart and vascular system in 37, kidney in 25, spleen in 13, lymph nodes in 7, gastrointestinal tract in 3. Alterations reported in the CNS, bone marrow, testis and thyroid had lower frequencies. The most described finding within lung tissues was represented by diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) in exudative or organizing phases, coupled to pulmonary edema, hemorrhages and microthrombi. Less commonly, slight fibrosis, atypical pneumocytes or acute inflammatory infiltrates were noted. Microthrombi, together with signs of acute or chronic inflammation, were also reported in the trachea. Haemophagocytosis was occasionally noted in lymph nodes. In the heart, fibrosis and myocardiocyte hypertrophy have been mostly observed. In the liver, the dominant microscopic picture found was mild to severe hepatic steatosis, though portal/periportal inflammation, hepatocyte necrosis and hepatic congestion have been also described. The spleen commonly showed hyperplasia of the white pulp. In the kidney, arteriolosclerosis was the most frequently encountered finding, often related to chronic hypertensive damage and diabetes.

Regarding other examinations carried out, 9 electron microscopy tests were performed. In 8 of these 9 cases, the authors found viral-like particles within cells of different tissues (such as tracheal epithelial cells, pneumocytes, enterocytes, renal tubular cells). In the remaining case, no viral-like particles were found, but neutrophils in the alveolar capillaries and fibrin deposits in the alveolar spaces were documented. Moreover, the presence of bacteria, fungi or viruses in addition to SARS CoV-2 was documented in 7 of the patients by using cultural tests, rt-PCR and other laboratory tests. In 2 cases, toxicological investigations were also carried out, finding dextromethorphan in one patient (part of the antitussive therapy taken during COVID-19) and in another patient caffeine and naloxone. Causes of death were reported in 71 decedents, while the role of COVID-19 was specified 51 of them, being considered "cause of death" in 37 cases (72.5%), "contributing factor" in 12 (23.5%) and "significant factor" in 2 (3.9%).

A summary of the results is shown in Figure 2 .

The COVID-19 Significance Score was applied to each case found in the literature review. The non-parametric ANOVA comparing the CSS assigned by three independent blinded investigators did not show significant differences (p > 0.05). Complete agreement was found in 68 cases. As shown in Table 2 , 57 of the 84 reported deaths fell into CSS category 3 for at least 2 raters, which means that "COVID-19 was the leading cause of death".

Twenty-two of the deaths fell into category 2 for at least two raters. In these cases, "COVID-19 likely contributed to the patient's death, together with other factors that may have played a prominent role". Four deaths were included in category 1, where "an alternative cause of death was likely", by at least two raters. In one case, CSS was classified as U by two raters, further specific investigation being necessary, and as 0 for the third one.

The two classifications of deaths were compared in the cases reported in this work also described in the study by Edler et al., specifically in 13 of the 84 deaths collected in this paper (Table 2 ). Considering the Hamburg category 1 (defined COVID-19 death) equivalent to the CSS category 3, and the Hamburg category 2 (probable COVID-19 death) equivalent to the CSS category 2, the results of the two classification systems agreed in 8 out of the 13 cases. In the remaining 5 cases, differences in assessment emerged. Particularly:

• in cases 1, 3, 4, 12 by Wichmann et al. [40] , CSS classified COVID-19 as the cause of death (CSS = 3), while the Hamburg score revealed a probable COVID-19 death (corresponding to CSS = 2); • in case 2 by Wichmann et al. [40] , CSS classified COVID-19 as the cause of death (CSS = 3), while Hamburg scored the fatality as possible COVID-19 death (corresponding to CSS = 1).

The t-test between the average CSS score and the Hamburg score, converted into CSS, did not yield a statistical significant difference. 

The COVID-19 Significance Score was applied to each case found in the literature review. The non-parametric ANOVA comparing the CSS assigned by three independent blinded investigators did not show significant differences (p > 0.05). Complete agreement was found in 68 cases. As shown in Table 2 , 57 of the 84 reported deaths fell into CSS category 3 for at least 2 raters, which means that "COVID-19 was the leading cause of death". 

Information about 84 deaths involving SARS CoV-2 positiveness or infection have been collected in the present study, showing the growing interest of the literature with respect to post-mortem findings in COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, several tests have been developed in order to confirm a patient's positivity to the virus, none of them free from issues of sensitivity [31] . The most used is certainly rt-PCR performed on swabs collected from the upper airways. All patients included in this study tested positive for airway swabs, performed in vivo or post-mortem. However, the accuracy of post-mortem swabs is yet to be clearly defined and false negative are theoretically possible [69] . Indeed, even though different studies report positive swabs even after several days, the influence of post-mortem interval and bacterial superimposition is unknown. One study suggested it might be reliable until 5 days [70] . C. Edler et al. verified the post-mortem sensitivity of the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs by performing the test on 30 deceased at the time of dissection, finding a positive swab in 100% of cases, with a maximum time elapsed from death to the test of 12 days [38] . Furthermore, a study by Marco Dell'Aquila et al. highlighted the importance of performing multiple swabs in the post-mortem examination [71] . COVID-19 has been detected by nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs up to 27 h after death [72] , while in another study the positivity of throat swabs lasted up to 128 h [73] . By performing rhino-pharyngeal, tracheal and lung swabs in 12 autopsy cases of patients with a clinical diagnosis of Sars-CoV-2 related pneumonia, 9 out of 12 cases had at least one post-mortem swab positive for Sars-CoV-2, with the virus found in samples up to 310 h from the post mortem sampling [71] . Moreover, a paper by Prema Seetulsingh et al. described the case of a patient who died of respiratory failure during transport to the hospital, with a negative upper airway swab, but with SARS CoV-2 found in the lung at an analysis performed 27 days following the death [74] . However, a correlation between the negativity of the lung swabs and the number of days elapsed from the ante mortem swabs was also found, as well as a negative correlation between the positivity of the other swabs and the number of days passed from the ante mortem swabs [71] . Thus, results of swabs should be interpreted with caution and never taken as an evidence of COVID-19 when singularly considered.

As a matter of fact, despite multiple reports allowed to assess the vitality of SARS CoV-2, scientific evidence regarding the risk of becoming infected for health care personnel arising from human dead hosts is lacking. Notwithstanding this, the risk of contagion involved in the post-mortem examination led some countries to discourage the performance of autopsies, as happened in Italy [75] . This might explain why the number of cases here considered, although significant, is rather low when compared to the high worldwide mortality for COVID-19. An additional possible explanation for the decline of the autopsy rate might be connected to the guidance for the safe management of a dead body, published by the World Health Organization and by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [76, 77] . Indeed, not all the autopsy facilities could be equipped with the required safety measures (e.g., negative pressure rooms) and the lack of "safe" autopsy rooms might have additionally led to a reduction in postmortem examinations [69, 76] .

The epidemiology of the victims, and the rate of comorbidities (absent in 28% of the cases), do not allow to confirm that SARS-CoV-2 is only affecting the elderly or patients who bear in already critical conditions. Rather, this is a confirmation that COVID-19 can be lethal even in healthy people and this should be taken in mind by forensic pathologists, who might incur in an otherwise unexplained death. As for the history of the disease, reported symptoms, laboratory alterations and macro as well as microscopic findings of the cases collected in this study were in line with those reported by other works, showing a prevalence of lung damage with edema, acute and late phase of DAD, presence of microthrombi in the pulmonary vessels or pneumonia [78] [79] [80] [81] [82] [83] , but also involvement of other organs, such as kidneys, heart and liver [84] [85] [86] [87] . This also highlights that investigations limited to the lungs might not be enough to obtain a clear clinical post-mortem picture. Moreover, the complexity of the histological features shown even within the lungs might suggest that a biopsy-based approach might not be representative of the whole parenchyma.

As for the type of analyses performed, in vivo imaging was far more common than in the post-mortem setting (only 15 cases). Particularly, post-mortem imaging was performed when in vivo instrumental analysis was missing, e.g., cases 1,3,5,7-12 by Dominic Wichmann et al. [40] , and its concordance or discordance with pathological findings allowed a high inter-rater agreement in the assignment of the CSS. Its application is strongly encouraged, especially when other info might be missing. Toxicology was extremely rarely applied. However, several drugs were administered before and during COVID-19 in most cases and, in this condition, it would appear reasonable to confirm the effectiveness of the administration, e.g., by excluding under-as well as over-doses.

A rather worrying picture emerged from the type of post-mortem examination performed, since the majority of cases (55 in total, out of 84) were not complete, nor performed with respect to the international guidelines [88, 89] . Indeed, even though micro-invasive autopsies, especially if coupled to post-mortem imaging and extensive sampling of tissues for histology and electronic microscope-based analyses, might represent a viable alternative to reduce the risk of infection for health care personnel, the exclusion of some organs (most often, the brain) or the loss of a global view on the health status of the victim might lead to false conclusions. Especially in the case of such a widespread and systemic infection as COVID-19, which might affect multiple organs and lead to an unpredictable and severe immune response, the careful dissection of each organ appears of paramount importance. Indeed, a full autopsy is the only chance to observe the systemic changes and take optimal samples to identify the cause of death [28] .

As already emerged for some toxicological issues, when the scientific data are scarce [35, 36] , a multidisciplinary evaluation is necessary and shared criteria might aid forensic pathologists in their delicate task, which has many consequences.

By observing the CSS applied to the collected cases, it can be noted that most of the deceased fall into the category "deaths from COVID-19". A similar result is reported by an interesting study by Francesco Grippo et al. [5] By analyzing more than 5000 death certificates compiled according to the ICD, it was observed that COVID-19 was reported as the leading cause of death in 88% of cases. Sefer Elezkurtaj also confirms, by performing autopsies on 26 patients, that in the majority of decedents, the causes of death were directly related to SARS CoV-2 [90] . According to this study, the majority of patients had "died of COVID-19", with only a contributory implication of pre-existing health conditions to the mechanism of death. However, the influence of a publication bias should be considered.

The very good agreement found by three blind and independent raters allows to hypothesize that the CSS is an easy tool which could be applied in the everyday routine of post-mortem examination on SARS-CoV-2 positive deceased, even by less experienced pathologists. Regarding the comparison with the Hamburg score by Edler et al. [38] , as previously mentioned, it was not possible to apply that categorization in all cases, but only in the autopsies performed in Hamburg which were also reported in the studies by Wichmann et al. [40] and Heinrich et al. [57] . The study of the University of Hamburg, in fact, collected the key points of the first 80 consecutive autopsies carried out in the federal state of Hamburg, then applied a categorization of deaths on the basis of the causes of death reported, making this scale not usable in different studies. Furthermore, the 80 cases described by Edler et al. do not contain extractable information, particularly regarding post-mortem findings [38] . Therefore, they could not be included in our database of literature cases. The Hamburg score mostly considered the findings of "pneumonia", "ARDS" and "pulmonary embolism" as indicators for a COVID-19-related death. Even if these findings are certainly fundamental in the evaluation of the role of SARS-CoV-2, we believe that a more comprehensive overview, as well as a valorization of past history and of the status of the other organs and functions (e.g., of coagulation), are needed. For example, findings of aspiration pneumonia in a patient with neurological comorbidities might be misinterpreted as SARS-CoV-2-related, when they might have occurred even in the absence of this pathogen and in any moment of the patient's life (e.g., case 6 by Wichmann et al. [40] , assigned CSS = 1). This further underlies the importance of collecting in vivo data when performing a post-mortem assessment. Clinical risk prediction models (e.g., QCOVID) have already been developed and validated on large population sets, to estimate the risk of becoming infected and then of dying of COVID-19, or of dying when admitted to hospital with COVID-19 [18, 91, 92] .

The quantification of such risks might be certainly useful even in the postmortem setting, and might give forensic pathologists strong indications on the most important clinical predictors of death. However, these statistical ex ante tools do not allow one to assess ex post the cause of death and the role of the virus in the specific evaluated case. Thus, in the post-mortem evaluation, clinical stratification risk models or image-based outcome models should be always integrated with the CSS [93] .

Even though the results, by comparing the converted Hamburg score and the CSS, were not significantly different, this type of analysis has been made possible only in a minority of cases and further studies would be needed to establish whether they are interchangeable. Nevertheless, we agree that, when the cause of death is difficult to be ascertained, a high degree of suspicion for COVID-19 should be maintained, and this probably had a reflection in the above-mentioned high degree of CSS 3 and 2 assigned.

Beside the difference in numbers among cases classified by Hamburg score and by CSS, the study has several limitations. Until July 31, only a few reports of complete autopsies had been published. The early publication of the present study has the aim to provide a quick overview and practical instruments which might be helpful for further cases evaluation. Despite the diffusion of safety protocols, very often these were not applied due to the infectious risk, preferring minimally invasive approaches such as ultrasound guided biopsies or partial autopsies, by opening of the thoracic and abdominal cavity, but leaving the organs in situ. Additionally, not all the articles reported information such as laboratory tests performed, comorbidities, circumstances of death and radiology. Regarding the swabs, all cases found were positive for the virus, but it has not always been reported whether the swab was performed in vivo or post mortem and, when performed post mortem, when with respect to the post-mortem interval. This information could be important in understanding how long the virus remains detectable in the patient's airways after death, with implications in CSS, built to evaluate SARS CoV-2 positive patients. The lack of one or some of the CSS key points could make the score less accurate. A possible solution could consist in the creation of a register that contains all the autopsies performed on patients affected by COVID-19, with findings organized in a systematic way.

The present systematic review has several limits. Firstly, the time of publication chosen was quite narrow, from the early months of 2020 to 31 July 2020. However, this was necessary due to the urgency of the matter. A broader period of observation would certainly provide more relevant data. Secondly, only papers at least providing some results of a post-mortem examination were included. This was motivated by the will of obtaining stronger evidence, even though we are aware that this might have resulted in a lower number of cases. Indeed, the total number of cases herein reported is certainly low, when compared to the worldwide mortality from Covid-19. This might be due to the limitations in performing autopsies which have been established, due to the infective risk for health care personnel and forensic pathologists, in many countries. Thirdly, the comparison between the CSS and the Hamburg score was only limited to a few cases. Finally, all relevant studies were included, with no distinction on the basis of the adherence to ethical standards and of the conflicts of interest, neither selecting only high-impact journal. This was done in order to offer a broad collection of cases, though it has resulted in the inclusion of a withdrawn article. However, the corresponding paper only provided a single case; thus, statistics were only minimally affected.

As the pandemic continues to claim victims, it is fundamental to distinguish those patients who have died "from COVID-19" from those who have died "with COVID-19". The SARS CoV-2 Significance Score (CSS) used after a complete accurate post-mortem examination, coupled to the retrieval of in vivo data, post-mortem radiology, histology and toxicology, as well as to additional required analyses (e.g., electronic microscopy) aims to be a useful, concise tool helping in the assessment of the cause of death and the role played by this virus. A shared use of this scale might hopefully lower the inhomogeneities in forensic evaluation of SARS-CoV-2. 

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The authors thank Antonella Bacosi and Simonetta di Carlo for technical help.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.