title: Dilated canine hearts: a specimen for teaching cardiac anatomy.
abstract: Dilated canine hearts were used to teach undergraduate students internal and external cardiac anatomy. The specimens were dilated using hydrostatic pressure and then fixed using 5% formalin. These specimens provided the students with an alternative to prepackaged embalmed hearts and anatomical models for studying the external and internal cardiac anatomy. In addition, the dilated hearts are more similar to the organ they encounter within the thoracic cavity of their dissected animal. This gives the students a better chance of developing a three-dimensional understanding of the heart.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA. copel@winthrop.edu
authors.forename: Lee Anne
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cope
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000193:education*; D000818:Animals; D032882:Comprehension; D004285:Dogs; D005404:Fixatives; D005557:Formaldehyde; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D007858:Learning; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D016707:Tissue Fixation
chemical_list: D005404:Fixatives; D005557:Formaldehyde