Standardized nomenclature and anatomic basis for regional tomographic analysis of the heart.

The noninvasive evaluation of cardiac diseases by two-dimensional imaging techniques is now a reality. Two-dimensional echocardiography is a well-established clinical tool, and both roentgenographic computed tomography and isotope positron reconstructions of the heart are being developed. The time has come for the pathologist to perform systematic and correlative cross-sectional analysis of cardiac diseases at autopsy. To attain this goal, the pathologist and clinician must work together. This paper describes various methods for examination of the heart at autopsy and emphasizes the value of tomographic sections. The concept of regional analysis of the heart is described, and a standardized system of nomenclature is offered for the pathologist and the clinician.