A simple technique for the utilization of postmortem tracheal and bronchial tissues for ultrastructural studies.

Human tracheal and bronchial tissues were taken from autopsy cases within five hours of death. The tissue was placed in a modified Krebs-Henseleit solution at either 37 degrees C. or 7 degrees C. A combination of 95 per cent oxygen and 5 per cent carbon dioxide was bubbled through the Krebs-Henseleit solution. Two hours after equilibration of the tissue in the bath at 37 degrees C. and electrical field stimulation was applied to the tissue and, if the tissue was physiologically active, it was utilized for further studies. At the termination of these studies the tissue was processed for electron microscopy. Control tissue was taken directly from the same area as the test tissue and was processed for electron microscopy without immersion in the Krebs-Henseleit solution. The tissue, after immersion in the Krebs-Henseleit solution for at least three hours, showed evidence of substantial recovery from the period of anoxia.