VETERINARY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL
Journal homepage: www.jakraya.com/journal/vri
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Luminal Corrosion Cast of Tracheo-Bronchial Tree of Equine Lung
R. Menaka*, Pankaj Thanvi** and Hemant Joshi**
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Apollo College of Veterinary Medicine, Agra Road, Jaipur-630 318,
Rajasthan, India.
** Assistant Professor, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal
Science, Udaipur (Rajasthan), India.
*Corresponding Author:
R. Menaka
Email: [email protected]
(Present Address: Assistant Professor, Vanbandhu
College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry,
NAU, Navsari, Gujarat, India).
Received: 17/09/2015
Revised: 28/09/2015
Accepted: 29/09/2015
Abstract
The luminal corrosion cast of tracheo- bronchial tree is extremely
important to understand the behavior of lung at large. The equine is
sensitive to allergic condition and commonly prone to lower respiratory
diseases. The fresh samples were utilized and silicone gel was injected to
prepare the luminal cast of plastinate models. The knowledge of the
branching morphology of the air way system is crucial for a complete
understanding of the entire lung. The principle bronchus and its segmental
bronchi were observed in the equine species. This study tried to account for
the natural variation and distribution of bronchial tree pattern as concern
with body mass and behavior of individual animal. It may be an ideal
model for comparative anatomical study of various species by luminal
corrosion cast technique.
Keywords: Bronchial tree, Plastinate models, Corrosion cast, Allergic,
Silicone, Bronchus.
1. Introduction
The horse is one of nature’s great athletes.
Equine athletes can be affected by a variety of disease
and conditions. It reduces their performance in mild
cases and result in early retirement of their work.
Horses are different from humans in the way that the
oral cavity and pharynx are always separated by the
soft palate except for swallowing. This is what makes
variation among animals in the horse an obligate nasal
breather, meaning that horse cannot breathe through the
mouth. Macklin and Macklin (1942) emphasized that
“the lung is the bronchial tree”. The pulmonary air
ways are organized in a complex branching
arrangement to facilitate gas exchange in the lung. The
mammalian respiratory physiology and air way spaces
are adapted to the body mass and behavior. Luminal
corrosion cast technique is useful to study the
dimensions and architecture of different cavities of
organs and to study the tubular pattern of arterial,
venous, various duct branches. This method is used for
trachea bronchial cast of lungs cerebral ventricles, bony
labyrinth, vascular pattern of liver, kidney, lung,
spleen, coronary vessels etc. (Parashuram et al., 2010).
The study is an important contribution to the
development of an animal models and teaching aids for
better understanding of lower respiratory passage. The
corrosion cast luminal plastinates yielded durable,
odorless and pleasant to handle it. The luminal
plastination allows better visualization of the branching
pattern of the airways in the bronchial tree patterns.
Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is a
familiar disease which affects a horse’s lung. RAO
causes constriction of the lower respiratory passage and
accumulation of mucus. Human asthma has been used
as a model for RAO research and can provide some
insight as to what a horse might be experiencing. The
equine respiratory system is extensively studied
because it is thought to be one of main area of
respiration. Even then, certain factors limit a horse’s
ability to perform at full potential. This paper does not
replace the fundamental diagnostic causes made by a
veterinarians but is meant to provide better
understanding of lower respiratory airways. The studies
mainly focused on lower respiratory bronchial tree
luminal cast plastination.
2. Materials and Methods
The two lung samples (adult horse) were
collected from postmortem cases in the department of
Veterinary Pathology, Apollo College of Veterinary
Medicine, Jaipur. The lung samples were injected with
silicone sealant (Dr. Fixit) into the tracheal bifurcation
level by injecting gun. Frank and Yoder (1966)
introduced the use of silicone for forming casts. The
Veterinary Research International | July-September, 2015 | Vol 3 | Issue 3 | Pages 68-70
© 2015 Jakraya Publications (P) Ltd
Menaka et al…Luminal Corrosion Cast of Tracheo-bronchial Tree in Equine Lung
Fig 1
Fig 2
The segmental bronchi then divide and subdivided through the entire lung and formed the bronchial tree
in a bath of alcohol. However the procedure of the
classical technique was not revealed by Honore’
Fragonard (Kamath et al., 2013). There is no doubt
that student of various medical/veterinary colleges
will be the ultimate beneficiary as this anatomical
technique of preservation becomes more
realistically in the virtual learning of anatomy. The
particular approach may be considered as teaching
silicone gel injected samples were hanged in table
height distance from the ground level for 24 hours.
Then the silicone gel completely solidified and further
samples were immersed in concentric hydrochloric acid
for digestion of soft tissues for 24 hours. Precaution
should be taken care to avoid acid fumes leak from the
container during acid digestion. Thereafter, the acid
digested samples were washed with running tap water
for cleaning and later samples were allowed for drying
at room temperature (Menaka et al., 2008).
aids/models are restricted by various ethical
concerns (Menaka et al., 2015). The bronchial
3. Results and Discussion
tree pattern and extra pulmonary vascularization
cast prepared in pigs by Michael et al. (2005).
The right lung is divided into a cranial lobe and
its bronchial tree as right cranial bronchus, a middle
lobe and its bronchial tree as middle bronchus. The
accessory lobe and its bronchial tree as accessory
bronchus and a caudal lobe and its bronchial tree as
right caudal bronchus. The left lung is divided into a
cranial lobe and its bronchial tree as left cranial
bronchus and caudal lobe and its bronchial tree as
caudal bronchus. The principal bronchus of each lobe
further divided into secondary or lobar bronchi. The
segmental bronchi then divide and subdivided through
the entire lung and formed the bronchial tree (Fig 1-2).
A picture is worth a thousand words.
In the eighteenth century most of the French
anatomists injected the vascular system with a
coloured mixture of wax, animal fat and plant
resins and the body was dehydrated by immersion
4. Conclusion
The luminal corrosion cast of bronchial tree
pattern of equine specimens is more interactive and
could be adopted for virtual class room teaching and
learning. The anatomy of the lungs and its bronchial
tree pattern are species specific. These differences
explain the airway diameters in any branching level
and can determine the volume of air flux in the lung.
The bronchial tree luminal cast plastinates is best
model to demonstrate for understanding of the
principles of morphological variation, physiological
importance of air circulation and other abnormalities in
the lung pathology.
Acknowledgement
Veterinary Research International | July-September, 2015 | Vol 3 | Issue 3 | Pages 68-70
© 2015 Jakraya Publications (P) Ltd
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Menaka et al…Luminal Corrosion Cast of Tracheo-bronchial Tree in Equine Lung
Authors cordially extended special thanks to Dr.
Sohan Singh Rathore, Retd., Dean, ACVM, Jaipur and
Dr. V. Ramkrishna, Retd., Professor and Head, College
of Veterinary Science and Head, KVAFSU, Bidar,
Karnataka for disseminating valuable knowledge and
his moral support.
References
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flexible cast of the lung. Journal of Applied Physiology,
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Macklin CC and Macklin MT (1942). Respiratory system,
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E.V. Cowdry, Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins.
Menaka R, Joshi H and Ramkrishna V (2008). Corrosion cast
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Journal Veterinary Anatomy, 19(2): 63-64.
Menaka R, Kelawala, NH and Vyas KN (2015). Plastination
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Michael L, Themiostocles C, Loannis KT, Panagiotis K and
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Kamath VG, Shetty RK, Muhammed A and Ramakrishna AA
(2013). Comparative study of tracheo bronchial pattern
using luminal plastination. International Journal of
Anatomy and Research, 03: 161-64.
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© 2015 Jakraya Publications (P) Ltd
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