MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT IN COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 is the viral causative agent of COVID-19, the disease that led to the pandemic that emerged in 2019. Although this disease is primarily classified as a respiratory tract infection, patients with COVID-19 may also present with clinical manifestations involving the gastrointestinal tract. In most cases, these changes are mild and transient; however, in some cases they may lead to severe and serious complications. The most common and significant gastrointestinal complication of COVID-19 is ischemic enterocolitis. The identified patholo(оит)cal changes in the gastrointestinal tract are most often associated with the consequences of severe systemic viral infection. Gastrointestinal symptoms that persist even after resolution of the pulmonary infection may be part of the evolving spectrum of the post-acute COVID syndrome (“long COVID”).