Spread of COVID-19 Infection in Long-Term Care Facilities of Trieste (Italy) during the Pre-Vaccination Era. Integrating Findings of 41 Forensic Autopsies with Geriatric Comorbidity Index as a Valid Option for the Assessment of Strength of Causation

Background: in 2020, a new form of coronavirus spread around the world starting from China. The older people were the population most affected by the virus worldwide, in particular in Italy where more than 90% of deaths were people over 65 years. In these people, the definition of the cause of death is tricky due to the presence of numerous comorbidities. Objective: to determine whether COVID-19 was the cause of death in a series of older adults residents of nursing care homes. Methods: 41 autopsies were performed from May to June 2020. External examination, swabs, and macroscopic and microscopic examination were performed. Results: the case series consisted of nursing home guests; 15 men and 26 women, with a mean age of 87 years. The average number of comorbidities was 4. Based only on the autopsy results, the defined cause of death was acute respiratory failure due to diffuse alveolar damage (8%) or (31%) bronchopneumonia with one or more positive swabs for SARS-CoV-2. Acute cardiac failure with one or more positive swabs for SARS-CoV-2 was indicated as the cause of death in in symptomatic (37%) and asymptomatic (10%) patients. Few patients died for septic shock (three cases), malignant neoplastic diseases (two cases), and massive digestive bleeding (one case). Conclusions: Data from post-mortem investigation were integrated with previously generated Geriatric Index of Comorbidity (GIC), resulting in four different degrees of probabilities: high (12%), intermediate (10%), low (59%), and none (19%), which define the level of strength of causation and the role of COVID-19 disease in determining death.