title: Plastinated heart slices aid echocardiographic interpretation in the dog.
abstract: Our aim was to compare plastinated sections of the canine heart with corresponding two-dimensional (2D) echocardiographic images. Thirteen dog hearts were fixed by dilation and then processed by the S10 silicon plastination method (Biodur). Two dogs without evidence of cardiac disease were imaged using 2D echocardiography so as to obtain a complete series of the standard right and left parasternal images, which were compared with corresponding plastinated slices obtained by knife sectioning of the hearts. The plastinated slices revealed the internal anatomy of the heart with great detail and were particularly useful to display the spatial relationship between complex anatomic structures. The plastinated slices corresponded accurately with the echocardiographic images. Because of the dilation of the right heart during the fixation process, it was not possible to obtain plastinated specimens in ventricular systole. This paper may be a reference atlas for assisting 2D echocardiography interpretation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Comparative Pathology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Josefa F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Del Palacio
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarriá
authors.forename: Octavio López
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Albors
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000662:veterinary*; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016613:Plastic Embedding / Q000662:veterinary*