Preparation of replicas of the complex arrangement of blood vessels in various organs and tissues has been accomplished by infusing low viscosity resins into the vasculature. Subsequent removal of the surrounding tissue by maceration leaves a model of the intricate three-dimensional anatomy of the blood vessels of the tissue not obtainable by any other procedure. When applied with care, the vascular corrosion casting technique can reveal fine details of the microvasculature including endothelial nuclear orientation and distribution (Fig. 1), locations of arteriolar sphincters (Fig. 2), venous valve anatomy (Fig. 3), and vessel size, density, and branching patterns. Because casts faithfully replicate tissue vasculature, they can be used for quantitative measurements of that vasculature. The purpose of this report is to summarize and highlight some quantitative applications of vascular corrosion casting. In each example, casts were prepared by infusing Mercox, a methyl-methacrylate resin, and macerating the tissue with 20% KOH. Casts were either mounted for conventional scanning electron microscopy, or sliced for viewing with a confocal laser microscope.
