A new method to make vascular and bronchial casts of voluminous organs.

Vascular and bronchial endocasts represent a useful instrument to study the ramification pattern of these structures. Casts have been made from different materials, such as waxes in ancient times and, more recently, silicon-like compounds or resins (see e.g.

Inferior vena cava duplication with reference to venous asymmetries.

Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava are relatively frequent, usually with scarce clinical impact. There are few cases reported of inferior vena cava duplication. The supernumerary left-placed vena cava originates in the pelvis from a common iliac vein and receives ipsilateral lumbar and renal veins.

Testing the model of optic chiasm formation in human beings.

Recent data from animal studies allow us to understand how the optic commissure formed. However, their validity in humans has not yet been demonstrated. Clues from human teratological cases provide useful information to test the validity of animal models and suggest other morphogenetic mechanisms.

Anatomic variations of the deep palmar arteries in man.

The deep palmar circulation is constituted by the deep palmar arch. In most cases this is a complete arch formed by the radial artery and its continuation to a deep branch of the ulnar artery. In a few cases, the deep palmar circulation is formed only by the radial or the ulnar artery.

A contribution to the history of renal structure knowledge (from Galen to Malpighi).

This work documents the progressive gain in knowledge on renal anatomy acquired by anatomists from Galen to Malpighi. Galen, with albeit his rather imaginative explanations, was the first anatomist to recognize the urine producing function of the kidney. His influence was felt up to the Middle Ages; his followers imagined the presence of two cavities within the kidney that were separated by a porous membrane that they called the "colatorium" which was capable of filtering the urine from the blood.