Cureus . SARS-CoV-2 Placental Infection in an Unvaccinated Mother Resulting in Fetal Demise

[tetano]

Cureus


. 2021 Dec 30;13(12):e20833.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.20833. eCollection 2021 Dec.
SARS-CoV-2 Placental Infection in an Unvaccinated Mother Resulting in Fetal Demise


Dominic J Bewley[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jessica Lee[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Oana Popescu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Angelica Oviedo[SUP] 3 [/SUP]



Affiliations

• PMID: 35141086
• PMCID: PMC8800441
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.20833

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in pregnancy may have devastating complications including fetal demise. Here, we describe a case of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a second-trimester pregnancy. The placenta demonstrated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA along with intervillositis and perivillous fibrin deposition. SARS-CoV-2 directly infects the trophoblastic cells of the placenta through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. This case report details the clinical history of a SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnancy with fetal demise. In addition, we show the images of the placental pathology and SARS-CoV-2 RNA in situ studies.

Keywords: fetal demise; intervillositis; placenta; sars-cov-2 infection; unvaccinated.