Publikationsdatenbank

Cluster analyses of contemporary embalming protocols in central European anatomy institutions:
a collaborative effort to minimize chemical exposure (2025)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Mohebimoushaei, Sara

Antipova, Veronica

Biedermann, Uta

Brand-Saberi, Beate

Bräuer, Lars

Caspers, Svenja

Doll, Sara

Engelhardt, Maren

Filler, Timm J.

Gericke, Martin

Gümüsalan, Yakup

Gundlach, Stefanie

Hayn-Leichsenring, Gregor U.

Heermann, Stephan

Hiepe, Laura

Hirt, Bernhard

Hirtler, Lena

Kulisch, Christoph

Konschake, Marko

Kürten, Stefanie

Lange, Tobias

Lorenz, Mario

Nassenstein, Christina

Neckel, Peter H.

Nimtschke, Ute

Paulsen, Friedrich

Prescher, Andreas

Pretterklieber, Michael L.

Schmiedl, Andreas

Schumann, Sven

Spindler, Volker

Schulze-Tanzil, Gundula

Tschernig, Thomas

Unverzagt, Axel

Valentiner, Ursula

Varga, Ivan

Wedel, Thilo

Weigner, Janet (WE 1)

Weninger, Wolfgang J.

Westermann, Jürgen

Wimmer-Roell, Monika

Waschke, Jens

Hammer, Niels

Quelle

Annals of anatomy / Anatomischer Anzeiger : official organ of the Anatomische Gesellschaft

Bandzählung: 260

Seiten: 152403

ISSN: 0940-9602

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0940960225000305?via%3Dihub

DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2025.152403

Pubmed: 40118157

Kontakt

Institut für Veterinär-Anatomie

Koserstr. 20
14195 Berlin
+49 30 838 75784
anatomie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Background
Anatomical embalming forms a mainstay in the provision of teaching materials based on human post-mortem tissues. As a consequence of regulations worldwide to minimize the use of formaldehyde due to its harmful nature, effective measures must be taken to minimize its application in the anatomy laboratory. This study aimed to identify commonalities among embalming protocols used in Austrian, German and Swiss anatomies to reduce formaldehyde usage and provide a foundation for joint accreditation.

Methods
Survey data on all procedures, technologies and chemicals related to embalming were collected from 28 participating institutions and analyzed using an automated clustering approach. Special attention was given to chemicals, explosion-proof facilities, and air ventilation technology. After conducting principal component analyses, the data was evaluated using an unsupervised K-means learning algorithm.

Results
Six distinct clusters of common chemical usage were identified, namely (1) Thiel embalming with explosion-proof facilities, (2) potassium- and sodium salt-based embalming with downdraft ventilation, (3) ethanol/glycerin/glutaraldehyde/sodium alkyl ether sulphate-based embalming, (4) ethanol-based embalming, (5) formaldehyde-based embalming, and (6) ethanol/phenoxyethanol/alkyl (C12–16) dimethylbenzyl ammoniumchloride-based embalming. All clusters included the use of formaldehyde to varying extent. These clusters demonstrated high stability for fixation, combined fixation and conservation, as well as the incorporation of explosion-proof facilities and air ventilation technology. Moreover, a number of institutions used more than one similar protocol, so-called ‘Superclusters’, with Clusters (4) and (1) or Clusters (5) and (1) combined being the most common observation.

Conclusion
These findings provide a basis for optimizing, streamlining and sharing embalming protocols among central European anatomy institutions.