TY - JOUR AU - Fittipaldi, Silvia AU - Vasuri, Francesco AU - Degiovanni, Alessio AU - Pini, Rodolfo AU - Gargiulo, Mauro AU - Stella, Andrea AU - Pasquinelli, Gianandrea AU - Thilly, William G. AU - Gostjeva, Elena V. PY - 2016 DA - 2016/07/29 TI - The study of calcified atherosclerotic arteries: an alternative to evaluate the composition of a problematic tissue reveals new insight including metakaryotic cells JO - BMC Clinical Pathology SP - 12 VL - 16 IS - 1 AB - Calcifications of atherosclerotic plaques represent a controversial issue as they either lead to the stabilization or rupture of the lesion. However, the cellular key players involved in the progression of the calcified plaques have not yet been described. The primary reason for this lacuna is that decalcification procedures impair protein and nucleic acids contained in the calcified tissue. The aim of our study was to preserve the cellular content of heavily calcified plaques with a new rapid fixation in order to simplify the study of calcifications. SN - 1472-6890 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12907-016-0036-6 DO - 10.1186/s12907-016-0036-6 ID - Fittipaldi2016 ER -