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Background: Economic restrictions and workforce cuts have continually challenged conventional autopsies. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has added tissue quality and safety requirements to the investigation of this disease, thereby launching efforts to upgrade autopsy strategies., Methods: In this proof-of-concept study, we performed bedside ultrasound-guided minimally invasive autopsy (US-MIA) in the ICU of critically ill COVID-19 patients using a structured protocol to obtain non-autolyzed tissue. Biopsies were assessed for their quality (vitality) and length of biopsy (mm) and for diagnosis. The efficiency of the procedure was monitored in five cases by recording the time of each step and safety issues by swabbing personal protective equipment and devices for viral contamination., Findings: Ultrasound examination and tissue procurement required a mean time period of 13 min and 54 min, respectively. A total of 318 multiorgan biopsies were obtained from five patients. Quality and vitality standards were fulfilled, which not only allowed for specific histopathological diagnosis but also the reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 virions in unexpected organs using electronic microscopy and RNA-expressing techniques., Interpretation: Bedside multidisciplinary US-MIA allows for the fast and efficient acquisition of autolytic-free tissue and offers unappreciated potential to overcome the limitations of research in postmortem studies.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is associated with high mortality. For diagnosis, galactomannan-antigen in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid is recommended, with higher sensitivity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Because of invasiveness, bronchoalveolar lavage might be withheld due to patients' or technical limitations, leading to a delay in diagnosis while early diagnosis is crucial for patient outcome. To address this problem, we performed an analysis of patient characteristics of intubated patients with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis with comparison of galactomannan-antigen testing between non-directed bronchial lavage (NBL) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. A total of 32 intubated ICU patients with suspected invasive pulmonary aspergillosis could be identified. Mycological cultures were positive in 37.5% for A. fumigatus . Galactomannan-antigen in NBL (ODI 4.3 ± 2.4) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (ODI 3.6 ± 2.2) showed consistent results ( p -value 0.697). Galactomannan-antigen testing for detection of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis using deep tracheal secretion showed comparable results to bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Because of widespread availability in intubated patients, galactomannan-antigen from NBL can be used as a screening parameter in critical risk groups with high pretest probability for invasive aspergillosis to accelerate diagnosis and initiation of treatment. Bronchoalveolar lavage remains the gold standard for diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis to be completed to confirm diagnosis, but results from NBL remove time sensitivity.