Georgy Shor and Spalteholz Method

SHOR, Georgy Vladimirovich (born 1872), a prominent pathologoanatomist. In 1895 he graduated from the Military Medical Academy; for 3 years he served in the naval department as a ship's doctor. From 1900 he began working as an extern in the dissecting room of the Obukhov Hospital, and from 1903 as a prosector in a number of hospitals in St. Petersburg. In 1908 he was elected privat-docent at the Department of Pathological Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy, and in 1913 as professor of pathological anatomy at the State Institute of Medical Knowledge; from 1917 he moved to the position of professor of pathological anatomy at the First Leningrad Medical Institute, which he occupies to the present time. Shor has more than 60 scientific works. Of these, the greatest importance are: his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Medicine "Primary cancer of the bronchi, lungs and pleura in pathological-anatomical relation" (St. Petersburg, 1903), which is the first Russian work devoted to this issue; a series of works relating to the technique of processing and preserving museum preparations; in these works Shor indicated a new method of preserving organs in their natural form without liquid. Shor also owns a special method of autopsy ("complete evisceration"). In several works Shor developed the question of the development of the palate and malformations in its region. Further, Shor is one of the founders of so-called thanatology, having written the monograph "On human death, an introduction to thanatology" (Leningrad, 1925) and continuing to develop various issues related to human death. In recent years Shor has produced a number of valuable studies on oncology, in particular on experimental cancer. Shor is one of the founders of the Leningrad Society of Pathologists. In 1933 Shor was awarded the title of Honored Worker of Science.

SPALTEHOLZ METHOD (Spalteholz) for preparing transparent or translucent anatomical preparations is based on the laws of optics, according to which a body that is opaque under normal conditions becomes maximally transparent if it is surrounded and impregnated with a substance having the same refractive index of light. Spalteholz (works of 1900–1914) in relation to anatomical preparations definitely clarified the nature of the physical phenomena taking place here, determined the refractive index of individual tissues and the so-called average index of whole organs and organisms, in accordance with which it turned out to be possible to select liquids (essential oils) that gave a very high positive effect. Thus, according to Spalteholz, the refractive index of whole rats with viscera is 1.549; of decalcified adult bone, 1.547; of an adult human heart, 1.551. As liquids, Spalteholz recommends using the following essential oils, the refractive index of which is close to the refractive index of tissues and organs: artificial wintergreen oil (Wintergrünöl), whose refractive index is 1.534–1.538; Benzylbenzoat (1.568–1.570); Isosafrol (1.577); Safrol (1.540–1.542). By mixing in certain proportions liquids with higher and lower indices, the desired value in each given case is obtained. Thus, for the clearing of decalcified adult bones, Wintergrünöl 5 parts by weight and Benzylbenzoat 3 parts by weight are taken, or Benzylbenzoat 3 parts by weight and Isosafrol 1 part by weight, etc. The adult human heart is cleared with a mixture of 1 part by weight of Wintergrünöl and 1 part by weight of Benzylbenzoat; one can also take Wintergrünöl 9 parts by weight and Isosafrol 5 parts by weight. For human fetuses of the last months of pregnancy, Wintergrünöl 2 parts by weight and Benzylbenzoat 1 part by weight are taken. For embryos of the first months of pregnancy: Wintergrünöl 3 parts by weight and Benzylbenzoat 1 part by weight. For embryos of the first stages of development: Wintergrünöl 5 parts and Benzylbenzoat 1 part.

The successive course of preparing a translucent preparation according to Spalteholz is as follows: 1) preparation of the specimen (e.g., injection of blood vessels, staining of bone, cartilage, staining of nerves); 2) fixation: formalin 5–10%; 3) bleaching (in cases of artificial coloring it is omitted) in 3–5% hydrogen peroxide with the addition of 0.5–1% formalin; 4) washing in running water; 5) dehydration in alcohols of ascending strength (50–100%); 6) impregnation with benzene; 7) placement in a liquid of the finished composition. For mounting preparations, since the clearing mixtures are volatile and dissolve putties, the following mixture is recommended: gum arabic 50 parts, sugar 50 parts, soluble glass 2 parts, and formalin 1 part; the mixture is kneaded like a thick dough with a minimum of water. Preparations prepared according to the Spalteholz method (especially injected blood vessels of organs) are extremely valuable for studying a number of issues of both normal and pathological anatomy. See also Vasilyev method, Anatomical preparations.