Scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts--standard method for studying microvessels.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of vascular corrosion casts (microvascular corrosion casting/SEM method) is a standard method, which allows three-dimensional visualization with good resolution of the normal and abnormal microvessels, including the capillaries of various organs and tissues. SEM of vascular corrosion casts can obtain qualitative as well as quantitative informations important to anatomists, pathologists and clinicians. Considering these, the history, the advantages and the main steps of this technique including general morphological characteristics of vascular casts observed in SEM are reviewed in this paper. Corrosion casts done by the author representing the microvascular organization of the rat liver and kidney observed in SEM are, also, presented.