Air contrast of the intervillous space enables non-disruptive Micro-CT analysis of paraffin-embedded archival placental tissue

N Barapatre; B Aschauer; C Kampfer; C Schmitz; F E von Koch; H-G Frank

doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2020.08.003

Air contrast of the intervillous space enables non-disruptive Micro-CT analysis of paraffin-embedded archival placental tissue

Placenta. 2020 Oct:100:66-68. doi: 10.1016/j.placenta.2020.08.003. Epub 2020 Aug 14.

Authors

N Barapatre¹, B Aschauer², C Kampfer², C Schmitz², F E von Koch³, H-G Frank²

Affiliations

¹ LMU Munich, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy II, Pettenkoferstr. 11, 80336, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: nirav.barapatre@med.uni-muenchen.de.
² LMU Munich, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy II, Pettenkoferstr. 11, 80336, Munich, Germany.
³ Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynecology Dritter Orden, Menzinger Str. 44, 80638, Munich, Germany.

PMID: 32862057
DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2020.08.003

Abstract

The morphometric parameters of the villous tree are a strong indicator of deviant placentas. Methods have been established to digitally reconstruct small peripheral branches by tracing with 3D Microscopy at subcellular resolution. Micro-CT can help scale up the scanning of villous trees with resolution in the range of a few micrometers. As placental tissue samples are routinely conserved and archived by fixation and paraffin embedding, the villous structures are inaccessible to Micro-CT imaging due to poor contrast between paraffin and paraffinized tissue. We present a novel procedure for contrast enhancement by selectively replacing wax by air in the intervillous space.

Keywords: Micro-CT; Paraffin-embedded; Placenta; Villous tree.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Paraffin Embedding*
Placenta / diagnostic imaging*
Pregnancy
X-Ray Microtomography*