Introduction: Multiple cardiovascular conditions can lead to unexpected fatality, which is defined as sudden
cardiac death. One of these potentially underlying conditions is aortic regurgitation, which can be caused by
discrete changes of the geometry of the proximal aorta. To analyze aortic valve competency and furthermore to
elucidate underlying pathological alterations of the coronary arteries and the vasa vasorum a perfusion method to
simulate a diastolic state was designed.
Material and methods: A postmortem approach with retrograde perfusion of the ascending aorta with methylene
blue was applied to three bodies. The procedure comprised cannulation of the brachiocephalic trunk, clamping of
the aortic arch between brachiocephalic trunk and left carotid artery, infusion of 250 ml of methylene blue, and
optical clearing of the superficial tissue layers after perfusion. Organs were examined directly following perfusion
and after optical clearing.
Results: Assessment and visualization of aortic valve competency and the vasa vasorum were possible in all three
instances. Visualization of the coronary perfusion was impaired by postmortem thrombus formation. Optical
clearing did not provide additional information.
Discussion: The method presented here is a time- and cost-efficient way of visualizing aortic valve competency and
the vasa vasorum. The visualization of the vasa vasorum highlights the potential of this method in basic research
on diseases of the great arteries and coronaries. However, for a time-efficient functional analysis of the coronaries,
other methods must be applied
