The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 86, 912-919, Copyright © 1983 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Light and electron microscopic evaluation of canine hearts orthotopically transplanted after 24 hours of extracorporeal preservation
M Tago, R Subramanian and MP Kaye
The hearts of 19 dogs were subjected to in vitro, moderately hypothermic,
whole blood perfusion through the aorta for 24 hours. Sixteen of the hearts
were reimplanted into recipient animals in the conventional orthotopic
fashion and three were subjected to histologic study without
reimplantation. Fourteen of the 16 reimplanted hearts successfully
supported the recipients. Histologic and ultrastructural studies of the
reimplanted hearts 24 hours and 7 days after implantation demonstrated good
preservation of cellular and ultracellular structures. Some mild widening
of the interstitium was noted.