An electron microscopic technique for the study of elastic tissue in small arteries and arterioles of the kidney.

Elastic tissue content and distribution were studied by electron microscopy of small arteries and arterioles of kidneys obtained from normotensive Wistar and spontaneously hypertensive rats, normal dogs and patients with hypertension and glomerular diseases. Specificity and sensitivity of silver tetraphenyl porphyrin sulfonate stain are discussed. This specific electron microscopy technique should prove useful in analysis of elastic tissue in pathologic states of other organs, especially where elastic tissue normally appears to be sparse or absent.