A modifiable valve-sparing pediatric cardiac dissection technique promotes specimen longevity and optimizes advanced image analysis postpathological examination.

ABSTRACT

This paper illustrates a valve-sparing cardiac dissection technique that keeps the atrioventricular and semilunar valves and other important cardiac structures intact. The technique minimizes disruption in heart specimens, so they remain suitable for teaching, demonstration, and further research. When performed following the perfusion-distension method of fixation, as our group previously described, this technique could optimize the preservation of heart specimens for teaching and digital archiving postdissection.