title: The use of a cerebral perfusion and immersion-fixation process for subsequent white matter dissection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Klingler's method for white matter dissection revolutionized the study of deep cerebral anatomy. Although this technique made white matter dissection more feasible and widely used, it still presents some intrinsic limitations.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated the quality of different methods for specimen preparation based on an intra-carotidal formalin perfusion fixation process. Ten post-mortem human hemispheres were prepared with this method and dissected in a stepwise manner.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The homogeneous and rapid fixation of the brain allowed documentation of several fine additional anatomical details. Intra-cortical white matter terminations were described during the first stage of dissection on each specimen. No limitations were encountered during dissection of the major associative bundles. On the contrary, the quality of the fixation of the specimens made it possible to isolate them en bloc. One of the most complex and deep bundles (accumbo-frontal fasciculus) was dissected without technical limitations. Deep vascular structures were very well preserved and dissected within the white matter until their sub-millimetric terminations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Short time for preparation, a more homogeneous fixation, no technical limitation for a detailed description of superficial and deep white matter anatomy, the possibility to dissect with a single technique the fibre organization and the white matter vascular architecture are the advantages reported with the perfusion fixation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide encouraging data about the possibility to use a perfusion fixation process, which may help in improving the quality of white matter dissection for research, didactic purposes and surgical training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: francesco.latini@neuro.uu.se.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Latini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Cell Biology, Education, Uppsala University, Box 571, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hjortberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Regenerative Neurobiology, Uppsala University, Box 593, 75124 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Håkan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aldskogius
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset, 75185 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryttlefors
mesh_terms: D002102:Cadaver; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004210:Dissection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010477:Perfusion / Q000379:methods*; D066127:White Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Accumbo-frontal fasciculus; Deep vascular anatomy; Fibre dissection; Fixation; Klingler; Perfusion; White matter