Volume 27, Number 6—June 2021
Research Letter
Rapid Antigen Test for Postmortem Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Carriage
Figure

Figure. Postmortem detection and cultivation of SARS-CoV-2 for investigation of RAT for postmortem evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 carriage, Graz, Austria. A) Among 30 deceased SARS-CoV-2 patients, RAT detected fewer positive cases than did qRT-PCR. B) RAT-negative cases show significantly higher Ct values in qRT-PCR compared with RAT-positive cases (Mann-Whitney test). C) Cultivation negative and positive cases mirror Ct values of RAT results (Mann-Whitney test). D–F) Longer disease durations are significantly correlated with higher Ct values (Spearman correlation test; D), negative RAT results (Mann-Whitney test; E), and negative cultivation results (Mann-Whitney test; F). G–I) No significant correlation was found between postmortem intervals and Ct values (Spearman correlation test; G), RAT results (Mann-Whitney test; H), or cultivation results (Mann-Whitney test; I). C, cultivation; Ct, cycle threshold; neg, negative; qRT-PCR, quantitative reverse transcription PCR; RAT, rapid antigen test; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; +, positive; –, negative.