Reliable eighteen-hour lung preservation at 4 degrees and 10 degrees C by pulmonary artery flush after high-dose prostaglandin E1 administration.
Pulmonary preservation is improved by hypothermia, but the optimal preservation temperature is not known. The effects of two different preservation temperatures, 4 degrees and 10 degrees C, on lung function were studied in a canine left lung allograft survival model allowing selective perfusion of either lung. After donor treatment with high-dose prostaglandin E1, (25 micrograms/kg), lungs were flushed with modified Euro-Collins solution (50 ml/kg) and stored in Euro-Collins solution for 18 hours at 4 degrees C in group I (n = 8) and 10 degrees C in group II (n = 6). Pulmonary gas exchange and hemodynamics were compared on the day of transplantation (day 0) and 3 days later (day 3). Rapid, high-flow, low-pressure flush was achieved uniformly in both groups (flush time: group I, 35.1 +/- 2.4 second; group II, 35.3 +/- 3.0 seconds; p = 0.96; flush pressure: group I, 9.8 +/- 0.7 mm Hg; group II, 10.1 +/- 1.1 mm Hg; p = 0.8). Transplanted lungs provided similar excellent oxygenation in both groups on day 0 (arterial oxygen tension, group I, 451 +/- 82 mm Hg; group II, 497 +/- 37 mm Hg; p = 0.61; inspired oxygen fraction = 1.0) and day 3 (arterial oxygen tension, group I, 551 +/- 57 mm Hg; group II, 587 +/- 19 mm Hg; p = 0.55), with a statistically significant improvement from day 0 to day 3 in both groups (group I, p = 0.034; group II, p = 0.038). There was no difference in arterial carbon dioxide tension, base excess, cardiac output, blood pressure or pulmonary artery pressure between the two groups. We conclude that a large bolus of prostaglandin E1 into the pulmonary artery produces a high-flow, low-pressure flush with modified Euro-Collins solution; with this technique, equivalent, reliable 18-hour lung preservation can be achieved at 4 degrees and 10 degrees C flush and storage temperatures.
Mayer
E
E
Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Puskas
J D
JD
Cardoso
P F
PF
Shi
S
S
Slutsky
A S
AS
Patterson
G A
GA
D000527:Alprostadil / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000818:Animals; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D004285:Dogs; D006439:Hemodynamics; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology*; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000502:physiology; D009926:Organ Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D000527:Alprostadil