The physical dimensions of the human neonatal cardiovascular system.

To establish a data base for studies which seek to model and simulate the human perinatal cardiovascular system, we dissected three stillborn, full-term infants and measured the length, internal diameter, and wall thickness of over 1000 blood vessel segments. Cumulatively, these segments represent the major and minor vessels of the systemic and pulmonary circulation at birth. Statistical analysis showed that the methods used to obtain these physical dimensions were highly consistent and that storage of tissue samples in 10 percent formaldehyde solution caused a linear shrinkage of approximately 6.3 percent. A topological code was developed to illustrate the network relationships of blood vessel segments. An example of data utilization based on the topological code is presented and discussed.