SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Placental Pathology Infecção por SARS-CoV-2 e patologia placentária

Abstract Placental pathophysiology in SARS-CoV-2 infection can help researchers understand more about the infection and its impact on thematernal/neonatal outcomes. This brief review provides an overview about some aspects of the placental pathology in SARSCoV- 2 infection. In total, 11 papers were included. The current literature suggests that there are no specific histopathological characteristics in the placenta related to SARSCoV- 2 infection, but placentas frominfected women aremore likely to show findings of maternal and/or fetal malperfusion. The most common findings in placentas from infected women were fibrin deposition and intense recruitment of inflammatory infiltrates. The transplacental transmission of this virus is unlikely to occur, probably due to low expression of the receptor for SARS-CoV-2 in placental cell types. Further studies are needed to improve our knowledge about the interaction between the virus and the mother-fetus dyad and the impact on maternal and neonatal/fetal outcomes.