Effects of Formalin Fixation on Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Myocardial Tissues

Brian R. Watson¹, Edward W. Hsu¹

Contrary to some tissues, little is known regarding the effects of fixation on Diffusion Tensor Imaging of cardiac specimens. Our goal was to systematically assess the effects of fixation, including factors such as specimen preparation, time of fixation, fixation duration, and fixative type, on DTI derived parameters measured in myocardial specimens. Utilizing canine hearts, we found that unfixed tissues lose fractional anisotropy(FA) and mean diffusivity(MD) over time. Also, we significantly show that fixed myocardium lost FA and MD due to fixation. In contrast, KCl did not significantly effect FA. These results help provide guidelines for future cardiac studies.