[Technique of comparative angiographic and morphologic examination of the heart and pulmonary circulation (author's...

Morphological changes of the cardiovascular system, e.g., due to congenital or acquired valvular diseases, cannot be analysed, evaluated or documented sufficiently by traditional gross pathological examination alone. The investigation of gross specimens of the heart and lungs is limited mainly to the inspection of the natural and cut surface, whereas postmortem angiograms allow three-dimensional examination of the vasculature even stereoscopically. Small vessels, e.g., bronchial arteries and anastomoses can easily be demonstrated by routine methods. The specimens can be formalin-fixed and contrasted by special techniques. Formalin-fixed and contrasted specimens of the heart and lungs are especially useful in the search for occult bleeding sources, emboli in chronic recurrent pulmonary embolism, and the investigation of the vascular system in pneumoconioses, primary and secondary tumors as well as in the analysis of the pulmonary vasculature in cases of defect of the ventricular septum and cor pulmonale. The basic morphology of computerized transaxial tomography can be studied from these sliced heart-lung specimens.