As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, perinatal deaths remain an important question, particularly because the mechanism of death remains unclear. A new study just published in the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (https://capatholo.gy/3JfXHTu) found that pathology abnormalities composing SARS-CoV-2 placentitis cause widespread and severe placental destruction that can result in still births. To the best that researchers could determine, all of the mothers in this study were unvaccinated.

In this CAPcast, David Schwartz, MD, FCAP, lead author of the study, discusses the research and what conclusions pathologists and the public should take away from these findings, as well as the important epidemiological role that pathologists and the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine (archivesofpathology.org) have had in global outbreaks--from AIDS and Zika to COVID.