Journal
ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Volume 406, Issue 1, Pages 359-366Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00216-013-7414-z
Keywords
Cardiac calculus; FE-SEM/ESEM-EDX; Raman; Calcium hydroxyapatite; Cholesterol; Hypercholesterolemia
Funding
- Taiwan Association of Cardiac Vascular Surgery Research
Ask authors/readers for more resources
To explore the pathogenic mineral formation in a huge cardiolith isolated from the left heart atrium of an 80-year-old male patient, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to analyze the topographic microstructure and perform elemental mapping in a cross-section of the cardiac calcified deposit after dissection. Environmental SEM equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS) was also used to investigate the composition and spatial distribution of elements in the cross-section, and fiberoptic Raman spectroscopy was used to reidentify the chemical composition of designated positions. The results indicated that calcium hydroxyapatite and cholesterol were the main components of the cardiac calculus. The plate-like structures of calcium hydroxyapatite were unevenly spread over the cholesterol of the cardiac calculus. The calcium hydroxyapatite-rich area exhibited higher amounts of C, O, P, and Ca elements as well as trace amounts of N, Na, Mg, and Al, whereas the major concentration of C, minor concentrations of N and O, and trace amounts of P and Ca were observed in the cholesterol-rich area. Hypercholesterolemia associated with calcification of this cardiac calculus was proposed. Both FE-SEM and ESEM energy dispersive X-ray microanalyses were performed directly, for the first time, to provide useful information on the microstructural characteristics and spatial distribution of elements on the surface of human cardiac calculi.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available