Author/Editor		Tang, Yong; Nyengaard, Jens R; Baandrup, Ulrik; Gundersen, Hans Joergen G
Title		Design-based stereology of the human heart
Type		članek
Source		Acta Stereol
Vol. and No.		Letnik 18, št. 3
Publication year		1999
Volume		str. 367-80
Language		eng
Abstract		Design-based stereological methods for obtaining estimates of the sizes of myocardial fibers and the number and sizes of capillaries and myocardial fiber nuclei in human autopsy hearts are presented. Sampling of heart tissue was uniform random at all levels, also with respect to orientations for estimates of leegth and mean sizes as required. Global structural quantities were estimated as: total quaatity : = density x volume of left ventricle. Ordinary, unbiased stereological methods were used for estimating the volume, surface area and length density of capillaries and myocardial fibers. The numerical density of fiber nuclei and capillaries were estimated using the optical disector and the physical disector, respectively. Local quantities ("size") were estimated either directly using unbiased estimators to obtain the average individual size and size distribution parameters or indirectly using the relationship: average size := total quantity / total number. As an individual myocyte cannot be distinguished in the sections used in our studies and may be polynucleated neither individual nor average myocyte volume can be estimated unbiasedly. Several effcient and robust alternatives are, however, provided for reporting various mathematically well defined aspects of fiber size.
Descriptors		HEART MUSCLE FIBERS CAPILLARIES AUTOPSY IMAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED