title: Autoperfusing ectothermic heart-lung preservation system.
abstract: A portable heart-lung preservation system was developed to enable distant organ procurement. In 8 dogs, a functioning heart-lung system was isolated, cannulated in situ, removed en bloc, and placed into a Plasmalyte-filled, temperature-controlled (15-38 degrees C) chamber. The perfusion circuit consisted of an adjustable-height, autologous-blood reservoir. The heart ejected through the aortic cannula with venous return (VR) into the superior vena cava. Respiration was maintained with a positive pressure ventilator. Intramyocardial tissue pressure (IMP), tissue pH, right atrial (RAP), aortic pressure (AOP), and cardiac output (CO) were monitored. Autoperfusion at normothermia and CO of 50 mL/min/kg resulted in early (3 h) deterioration of pulmonary function with progressive interstitial lung edema. Pulmonary dysfunction always preceded changes in regional myocardial contractile viability (peak IMP and d(IMP)/dt) and global function (CO, AOP). When tissue pH was regulated ectothermically (as in cold-blooded animals) (delta pH/degrees C = -0.015) the heart maintained a stable pumping mode (greater than 6 h) at myocardial temperatures of 17-28 degrees C, pH = 7.70-7.55, and heart rate of 25-50 bpm, respectively. The results indicate that a viable (greater than 6 h) autoperfused, working heart-lung system can be achieved by reducing the circulating blood flow to 30-50% of normal CO. More significantly, ectothermic alpha-stat modulation of perfusate pH and pCO2 allows a substantial reduction in organ temperature and metabolic demand without endangering induction of fibrillation and ultimate allograft failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Likoff Cardiovascular Institute, Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kresh
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Brockman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation; D006439:Hemodynamics; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009926:Organ Preservation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010477:Perfusion / Q000295:instrumentation; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance