Vascular corrosion casting combination with scanning electron microscopy was used to study the microvasculature of  the human cerebral cortex in traumatic and non-traumatic brains.

Fifteen human brains from patients who had died without head injury or any other cerebro vascular pathology were studied in order to establish the normal angioarchitecture of the cerebral cortex. The intracortical vascular network was formed by arteriolar vessels that were classified into four categories in accordance with their length and diameter. Moreover, we have identified four layers in the cerebral cortex on the basis of vascular density. Constrictions, blind endings and perivascular structures (plastic strips and pericyte-like) in the corrosion casts were also studied.

Ten human brains from patients who had died after a severe traumatic head injury were studied in order to compare them with the results in non-traumatic brains. In this way, we found that the angioarchitectoic distribution of the cerebral cortex was similar to the control pattern. However, the detailed study of the casts revealed the presence of generalized morphological alterations that affected either whole cortical  areas or some particular vessels placed among other vessels with a normal appearance. These alterations were observed in corrosion casts form arteriolar and capillary vessels. They were mainly longitudinal folds (corrugation) sunken surface with craters, and flattened vessels. We suggest that this kind of morphological alterations reflects endothelial damage which could be identified in the cast surfaces.