Fatal Form of COVID-19 in a Young Male Bodybuilder Anabolic Steroid Using: The First Autopsied Case

Abstract

We report the case of a 34-year-old male patient, a bodybuilding trainer and user of anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs) for 16 years. He was found in cardio-respiratory arrest in his home. By performing a medico-legal autopsy, a severe form of COVID-19, aortic atherosclerotic plaques, and an old myocardial infarction was found. The SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test on necroptic lung fragments was positive, with a B.1.258 genetic line. The histopathological examinations showed microthrombi with endothelitis in the cerebral tissue, massive pulmonary edema, diffuse alveolar damage grade 1, pulmonary thromboembolism, hepatic peliosis, and severe nesidioblastosis. The immunohistochemical examinations showed SARS-CoV-2 positive in the myocardium, lung, kidneys, and pancreas. ACE-2 receptor was positive in the same organs, but also in the spleen and liver. HLA alleles A*03, A*25, B*18, B*35, C*04, C*12, DRB1*04, DRB1*15, DQB1*03, DQB1*06 were also identified. In conclusion, death was due to a genetic predisposition, a long-term abuse of AASs that favored the development of a pluriorganic pathological tissue terrain, and recent consumption of AASs, which influenced the immune system at the time of infection.