Thrombus formation reimagined

et al, in a series of studies from the University of Pennsylvania, use intravital microscopy to evaluate how thrombi form following vascular injury and reveal unexpected interactions and physical forces that dictate clot initiation and architecture.1-4 In 1882, Dr Giulio Bizzozero described theuse of intravital microscopy to detect the accumulation of platelets following needle-induced injury of the mesenteric artery in rabbits and guinea pigs.5 Bizzozero’s paper was not only the first to define the platelet in name (“Blutplättchen ” in German) but was also the first to functionally define platelets as the primary cell type contributing to thrombus formation. Over the past decade, the study of thrombus formation using intravital microscopy has been transformed by the us