Protocol for postmortem bedside endoscopic procedure to sample human respiratory and olfactory cleft mucosa, olfactory bulbs, and frontal lobe

STAR Protoc. 2024 Mar 15;5(1):102831. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102831. Epub 2024 Jan 24.

Abstract

We present a protocol for the rapid postmortem bedside procurement of selected tissue samples using an endoscopic endonasal surgical technique that we adapted from skull base surgery. We describe steps for the postmortem collection of blood, cerebrospinal fluid, a nasopharyngeal swab, and tissue samples; the clean-up procedure; and the initial processing and storage of the samples. This protocol was validated with tissue samples procured postmortem from COVID-19 patients and can be applied in another emerging infectious disease. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Khan et al. (2021)1 and Khan et al. (2022).2.

Keywords: Clinical Protocol; Neuroscience.

MeSH terms

  • Endoscopy / methods
  • Frontal Lobe / surgery
  • Humans
  • Olfactory Mucosa / surgery
  • Plastic Surgery Procedures*
  • Skull Base / surgery