Silicone Casting of the Chambers of the Heart and the Great Vessels

Orientation of the overlapping chambers of the heart is difficult for first year veterinary medical students to conceptualize and confounding when attempting to determine ventricular volume using imaging techniques. To better visualize and understand the spatial relationship between the ventricles, silicone casts of the heart and great vessels were made from unembalmed sets of heart and lungs. The major vessels of the heart were either ligated or cannulated for silicone injection. Room temperature vulcanizing silicone was activated, colored and injected until the cardiac chambers were filled. After hardening, the specimens were first macerated in boiling water and maceration was completed in 5% hydrogen peroxide. A highly durable, anatomically precise replica of the cardiac chambers, valves and great vessels was thus obtained for student instruction and image analysis.