News

December 2022

  • At the end of the year, we would like to give a brief overview of the cases entered in the register: In 2022, 513 new autopsies were entered in the register. A total of 1,811 cases were registered as of December 31, 2022. 34 locations from 13 federal states are involved in the register.
     

November

  • Video trailer about the work and successes of the German Register for COVID-19 autopsies (DeRegCOVID).
Deutsches Register für COVID-19 Obduktionen (DeRegCOVID)
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October 2022

  • The German Bundestag has included DeRegCOVID in its "Statistiken und wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen zur Übersterblichkeit im Zusammenhang mit der COVID-19-Pandemie" (Statistics and Scientific Publications on the Excess Mortality Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic). It states as follows:

"Regarding COVID-19 deaths recorded as such, researchers from the RWTH Aachen University Hospital, representing the German Registry of COVID-19 Autopsies (DeRegCOVID), have provided an overview of data from autopsies on COVID-19 decedents in Germany, von Stillfried, Saskia / Bülow, Roman David et al. First report from the German COVID-19 autopsy registry, The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, published online February 18, 2022, available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666776222000230

The results showed that the coronavirus had caused massive lung damage in the bodies of the deceased. In 86 percent of the cases studied, COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death in the infected individuals. The study was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Health."

To read the documentation, go to: https://www.bundestag.de/resource/blob/896082/ac64c9701311ce633814acd4d9a40cb9/WD-9-010-22-pdf-data.pdf

  • The project management team has been supported by Pauline Tholen from the Center for Translational & Clinical Research (CTC-A) since October.
     

September 2022

  • A paper was published in the journal "Die Pathologie" giving an update on cooperative autopsy-based research in German pathology, neuropathology and forensic medicine. It can be read via the following Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36114379/ 
     

August 2022

July 2022

  • We have received the good news that this year we will be able to pay out further flat rates in addition to the reporting flat rates for entering autopsy data sets. The focus is on infections with the various current Omicron variants and on reinfections. Furthermore, all cases with a vaccination association are of interest.
     

June 2022

  • Svenja Windeck has joined the team and will take care of the coordination of the NATON project.
  • We were able to hold the first DeRegCOVID face-to-face meeting as part of the DGP annual conference.
     

May

April 2022

March 2022

February 2022

  • For the first time, we have provided an overview of data from autopsies on COVID-19 decedents in Germany in a publication in the scientific journal The Lancet Regional Health Europe. The results show that the coronavirus caused massive lung damage in the bodies of the deceased. In 86 percent of the cases studied, COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death in the infected individuals.

    ⇒ link to publication
     

January 2022

  • Lucas Triefenbach will join the DeRegCovid team and will take care of the coordination on the technical side.
  • The first joint publication, First Report from the German COVID-19 Autopsy Registry, was accepted for publication in the journal "The Lancet Regional Health Europe".
  • The registry has been further enhanced in its current version to respond to recent developments and to improve user experience.
     

December 2021

  • Ms. Benita Freeborn has joined the team and will take care of the coordination of the registry.  
  • The eCRF of the registry has been adapted. In the past, the following items were added or revised:  
    • Inclusion of viral mutations  
    • Extension of the possible vaccinations  
    • The user-friendliness of the registry was improved. This includes help texts and explanations for the individual queries.   
  • We would like to present another publication from the registry: SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and lung fibrosis;
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.033  
     

November 2021

Following we would like to present two publications, which were supported by the registry as well as other sources:

 

October 2021

A paper was published in the journal "Der Pathologe" dealing with both DeRegCOVID and the German network for autopsies in pandemics (DEFEAT PANDEMIcs): Development of a cooperative autopsy network of pathology, neuropathology and forensic medicine https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00292-021-01004-w

 

August 2021

  • This month, for the first time, data on over 1000 autopsy cases could be collected in the registry. We thank all participating centers for their support!
  • Another publication supported by the DeRegCOVID Registry was published: Antemortem vs Postmortem Histopathologic and Ultrastructural Findings in Paired Transbronchial Biopsy Specimens and Lung Autopsy Samples From Three Patients With Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcp/aqab087
  • We call for participation in the study project "Diagnostic and epidemiological investigations on human encephalitis caused by Borna Disease Virus (BoDV-1)" in cooperation with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin!

 

July 2021

  • On this map you will find the locations of the participating centers of the DeRegCOVID Register. Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Universitätsklinikum OWL (Bielefeld), Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Universitätsmedizin Mainz, Klinikum der Universität München (LMU Klinikum), Klinikum rechts der Isar TU München, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Universitätsklinikum Tübingen, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Standort Kiel, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Universitätsklinikum Augsburg, Uniklinik Köln, Universitätsklinikum Halle (Saale), Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Universitätsklinikum Essen, Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg, Standort Gießen, Universitätsklinikum Gießen und Marburg, Standort Marburg, Bundeswehrkrankenhaus Ulm, Klinikum Magdeburg, Klinikum Dortmund, Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg, Gemeinschaftspraxis für Pathologie Dresden.
  • This month has seen the publication of another paper supported by the Registry: Multisystemic Cellular Tropism of SARS-CoV-2 in Autopsies of COVID-19 Patients https://doi.org/10.3390/cells10081900

 

June 2021

  • The registry also records data on vaccination status. Data on the vaccine used can also be recorded.
  • The DEFEAT PANDEMIcs project supported by DeRegCOVID will be completed by the end of this year. An application has been submitted for a follow-on project called the National Autopsy Network (NATON). DeRegCOVID will also serve as the electronic backbone for the NATON project.
  • The project has contributed to the amendment of the Infection Protection Act (Section 25, paragraph (4)). Through this, we hope that the permission of autopsies will be facilitated and that we will be able to react even faster to any coming pandemics.

 

May 2021

Another paper supported by the DeRegCOVID Registry was published: SARS-CoV-2 RNA screening in routine pathology specimens https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.13828

 

April 2021

The registry turned one year old on 04/15/2021. We want to thank all autopsy centers for your support. Your cooperation is what made the project possible.

Due to the current situation, the registry will be updated in the future with additional data that will be collected, these include in particular:

  • Data on vaccination status
  • Data on virus variants or mutations
     

March 2021

  • A special issue of the scientific journal "Der Pathologe" on COVID-19 has been published. In this issue, there are many articles that have been supported by DeRegCOVID. The following is a selection of articles:

  1. COVID-19 in the mirror of pathology
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-021-00916-x
  2. Practical aspects of COVID-19 autopsies
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-021-00925-w
  3. Cooperative approach of pathology and neuropathology in the COVID-19 pandemic
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-020-00891-9
  4. COVID-19 effects on the kidney
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-020-00899-1
  5. Methods of SARS-CoV-2 detection in tissue
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-021-00919-8
  6. COVID-19 and the central and peripheral nervous system
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-021-00924-x

  7. COVID-19: effects on the lungs and heart
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00292-021-00918-9

 

February 2021

  • In cooperation with the LMU Munich a new study has been published. Vascular neutrophilic inflammation and immunothrombosis distinguish severe COVID-19 from influenza pneumonia https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jth.15179
     
  • Several reports have been published in the press that address the DeRegCOVID registry or report findings that have been supported by the registry. Among them is an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine: „An“ oder „mit“ dem Virus gestorben?  https://www.faz.net/-gpg-a8xgj

 

January 2021

 

December 2020

 

November 2020

  • We are pleased to announce that the DeRegCovid Register has become a full member of the TMF Technology and Methods Platform for Networked Medical Research e.V.

     

October 2020

  • In October a further publication supported by the DeRegCOVID Register has been released:
    Clinical, Serological, and Histopathological Similarities Between Severe COVID-19 and Acute Exacerbation of Connective Tissue Disease-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease (CTD-ILD)
    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.587517/full

 

August 2020

 

June 2020


May 2020