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J Reconstr Microsurg 2004; 20(4): 311-315
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-824889
Copyright © 2004 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

New Approach to Vascular Injection in Fresh Cadaver Dissection

Olivier Y. Heymans1 , Xavier P. Nélissen2 , Stéphane Peters2 , Vincent Lemaire2 , Alain Carlier2
  • 1Department of Plastic and Maxillfacial Surgery, University of Liège, Belgium
  • 2Institute of Human Anatomy, University of Liège, Belgium
Further Information

Publication History

Accepted: 19 December 2003

Publication Date:
19 April 2004 (online)

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Vascular injection techniques for anatomic studies are often complementary. Use of colored gelatinous mixtures with methylene blue provides precious data about descriptive anatomy by the contrast that it produces in the tissues. The introduction of radiopaque medium, such as lead oxide, into the gelatinous mixture can be used as a complement by means of x-ray examination, in order to facilitate and to reduce the time of investigation. Addition of rhodamine B to the radiopaque mixture keeps the advantages of the contrast medium, but also permits further dissection to demonstrate some details shown by prior x-ray examination. This article compares these different injection techniques in the study of the nasal vascular network. Moreover, it depicts a new injection approach that allows the investigation of vascular territories depending on thin caliber arteries by selective reinjection, defining microangiosomes. Each above-cited technique was used in ten facial territories of fresh cadavers. The patterns of the vessels shown by these techniques were identical, with a constant visualization of infra-millimetric arteries. However, selective reinjection was the only method that permitted characterization of the proper vascular territory of the lateral nasal artery.

KEYWORDS

Surgical flap - cadaveric study - vascular anatomy

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Olivier HeymansM.D. Ph.D. 

Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery

CHU Sart Tilman

B-4000 Liège, Belgium

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