Work

Mechanical perfusion in brain banking: methods of assessment and relationship to the postmortem interval

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: perfusion of the postmortem brain in human whole-body donors (n = 77). Through the evaluation of different approaches, we found that cannulation of the internal carotid arteries combined with clamping of the vertebral arteries allows targeted perfusion of the brain. We evaluated perfusion quality through three complementary methods: gross anatomical appearance, CT imaging, and histology. These quality assessment measures were partially correlated across donors, indicating that they offer complementary perspectives on perfusion quality. Correlational analysis of our cohort of banked brains confirms that perfusion quality decreases as the postmortem interval increases, with a heterogenous pattern across brain regions. Our findings provide data for optimizing brain banking protocols and suggest future directions for investigating the mechanisms of postmortem perfusion impairment.

Source: Free Neuropathology

DOI: 10.17879/freeneuropathology-2025-8880