Objective: We aimed to evaluate histopathologic alterations in the lung, heart, liver, and spleen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) decedents through postmortem core needle biopsies. Materials and Methods: Patients who died of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-proven COVID-19 were included in this postmortem case series. Postmortem percutaneous ultrasound-guided biopsies using 14- and 16-gauge needles were performed in the lungs, heart, liver, and spleen. Biopsy samples were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and examined under a light microscope. Clinicodemographic characteristics, chest computed tomography (CT) images, and COVID-19-related treatments of the patients were also collected. Results: Seven patients were included in this study. Liver and heart tissue samples were available from all patients, and lung and spleen tissues were available from five and three patients, respectively. Chest CT images predominantly revealed bibasilar ground-glass opacities. Lung biopsies showed diffuse alveolar damage in all biopsy specimens. Heart findings were nonspecific and largely compatible with the underlying disease. Patchy necrosis, steatosis, and mononuclear cellular infiltration were the main findings in the liver biopsies. Splenic histopathological examination showed that splenic necrosis and neutrophil infiltration were the common findings in all patients. Conclusion: Tissue acquisition was complete for the heart and liver and acceptable for lungs. The amount of tissue was sufficient for a proper histopathologic examination. The histopathological findings were generally in accordance with previous autopsy studies. The lung radiological findings were also correlated with the histopathologic findings. We consider that a postmortem biopsy is a feasible alternative for histopathological examinations in COVID-19 decedents.

Abstract Objectives: There is no study in the literature that patients with clinically-proven PET were evaluated by Valsalva CT. We aimed to evaluate the merit of Valsalva computed tomography (CT) in patients who had clinically-proven patulous Eustachian tube (PET). Design: Case-series Setting and participants: We recruited patients with clinically-proven PET. Participants: Main outcome measures: All participants underwent temporal bone CTs while they were performing the Valsalva maneuver in the supine position. Standard axial plane CT images, along with multiplanar reconstruction and 3D Air volume rendering, were used to visualize the ET in its entirety. Results: Three patients (2 females, one male) with a total of 6 ears were included in the study. All patients had suggestive symptoms of PET, including aural fullness, aerophony, and autophony and underwent clinical examination and audiologic tests. In all ears, the whole Eustachian tube could be visualized with Valsalva CT. Conclusion: For the first time, we demonstrated the merit of Valsalva CT in visualization of the Eustachian tube in its entirety in patients with clinically diagnosed PET.