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Washington University Experience | BASIC PROCESSES | Artifacts | Artifact - Swiss Cheese Brain | 13A1 Swiss Cheese_1
Case 17 History ---- A 70-year-old male with a medical history of dementia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and chronic alcohol use presented following a fall at his nursing facility. On admission, he was noted to be hypernatremic and was treated with intravenous fluids. He passed away a week after being discharged from the hospital. Following two weeks of fixation in 10% neutral buffered formalin, the brain exhibited an unusually strong musty odor. Notably, the specimen was floating above the formalin level, suggesting potential issues with fixation quality or tissue integrity. (Thanks to Aliaksandr Aksionau, MD for this case.) ---- 13A1,2 Multiple coronal sections of the brain specimen showing numerous smooth walled lozenge shaped cystic lesions which reflect the postmortem accumulation of the product of gas forming organisms.
