Abstract
Although COVID-19 is most well known for causing substantial respiratory pathology, it can also result in several extrapulmonary manifestations. These conditions include thrombotic complications, myocardial dysfunction and arrhythmia, acute coronary syndromes, acute kidney injury, gastrointestinal symptoms, hepatocellular injury, hyperglycemia and ketosis, neurologic illnesses, ocular symptoms, and dermatologic complications. Given that ACE2, the entry receptor for the causative coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is expressed in multiple extrapulmonary tissues, direct viral tissue damage is a plausible mechanism of injury. In addition, endothelial damage and thromboinflammation, dysregulation of immune responses, and maladaptation of ACE2-related pathways might all contribute to these extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. Here we review the extrapulmonary organ-specific pathophysiology, presentations and management considerations for patients with COVID-19 to aid clinicians and scientists in recognizing and monitoring the spectrum of manifestations, and in developing research priorities and therapeutic strategies for all organ systems involved.
Main
The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), which is responsible for the disease COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), has infected over 9.5 million people and has caused more than 480,000 deaths globally, as of 24 June 2020 (ref. 1). While SARS-CoV-2 is known to cause substantial pulmonary disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), clinicians have observed many extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. Our clinical experience and the emerging literature suggest that the hematologic, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary, endocrinologic, neurologic, ophthalmologic, and dermatologic systems can all be affected (Supplementary Table). This pathology may reflect either extrapulmonary dissemination and replication of SARS-CoV-2, as has been observed for other zoonotic coronaviruses7, or widespread immunopathological sequelae of the disease. To provide a perspective on these extrapulmonary manifestations, we discuss the pathophysiology and clinical impact of COVID-19 on various organ systems, accompanied by insights from our experience at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City at the epicenter of the pandemic.
