Week of 10 August 2021

answer

This image is a photograph of a mitral valve of a porcine!

The porcine mitral valve is closer to the human counterpart for many parameters: symmetry of the valve indicated by the ratio of the anterior to posterior leaflet, number of chordae tendineae from or to the anterior and posterior leaflets, numbers of heads of the papillary muscles and, even though thinner than in man, the thickest leaflets among ovine and canine species.1

The colors are added to indicate the rough zone of the anterior leaflet (yellow) and the smooth zone of the anterior leaflet (green).

NCC: Noncoronary cusp.
LCC: Left coronary cusp.
ALPM: Anterolateral papillary muscle.
PMPM: Posteromedial papillary muscle.
Red double headed arrow: Aorto-mitral “curtain”.

You can now compare the images of the previous weeks to each other:

These photographs are examples from the comprehensive suite of Pathology Services offered by IMMR’s in-house team of Board-certified Veterinary Pathologists.

Contact us to learn more and discuss your preclinical research and pathology needs.

Follow us on LinkedIn and don’t miss new images from our library that we post every Tuesday, when you’ll have another chance to recognize, identify or diagnose what is shown. You can also stay updated on some of the latest developments in Preclinical Science. Stay tuned!

1 Borenstein N, Behr L, Morlet A, Chevènement O, Kieval R, Ente A, Fiette L: Large animal models for the interventional cardiologist: a comparative anatomy, imaging, histopathology and regulatory perspective. The PCR-EAPCI Textbook, Part IV.