title: Recommendations for processing cardiovascular surgical pathology specimens: a consensus statement from the Standards and Definitions Committee of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology and the Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology.
abstract: With the advent of molecular subclassification of diseases, much consideration should be given to the proper processing of cardiovascular surgical pathology specimens to maximize patient care. Such specimens include endomyocardial biopsies, cardiac myectomy specimens, cardiac apical core segments, resected cardiac valves, pericardial biopsies, resected segments of aorta, cardiac tumors, vascular stents, vascular grafts, cardiac devices, resected veins, arterial biopsies including temporal artery biopsies and hearts removed during cardiac transplantation. In this report, the Standards and Definitions Committee of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology and the Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology present consensus guidelines for the gross description, sectioning, processing, and staining of these specimens. This report is presented to aid pathologists, pathology assistants, and clinicians in maximizing the diagnostic utility of cardiovascular surgical pathology specimens for enhanced patient care.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. jrstone@partners.org
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: Ulrik T
authors.initials: UT
authors.lastname: Baandrup
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bruneval
authors.forename: Jagdish
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Butany
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: Marc K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Halushka
authors.forename: Dylan V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Padera
authors.forename: Stanley J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Radio
authors.forename: Mary N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suvarna
authors.forename: Carmela D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiene
authors.forename: Allard C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: van der Wal
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Veinot
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D005060:Europe; D006652:Histological Techniques / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States