Vascular function in the cadaver up to six hours after cardiac arrest.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to evaluate how well vascular function is retained in a cadaver kept in a room with a temperature of 21 degrees C.


METHODS
The aorta and pulmonary artery of rats were investigated in organ baths as fresh controls and after 1, 2, 3, or 6 hours' storage in the cadaver. Six-hour-old cadaver aortas were transplanted and investigated after 24 hours and 60 days.


RESULTS
After 3 hours' storage there was no significant decrease in smooth muscle contractile function in either aorta or pulmonary artery. After 6 hours' storage both the aorta and the pulmonary artery demonstrated a significant decrease in smooth muscle contractile function, 30% (p < 0.05) and 44% (p < 0.001), respectively, compared to fresh controls. Storing the aorta for 2 hours and the pulmonary artery for 6 hours caused no significant decrease in endothelium-dependent relaxing function. In aorta segments investigated after 3 and 6 hours there was a significant decrease in endothelium-dependent relaxation, 12% (p < 0.05) and 29% (p < 0.001), respectively. Six-hour-old cadaver aortas transplanted and investigated after 24 hours or 60 days demonstrated no significant changes in endothelium-dependent relaxation and smooth muscle function compared to fresh controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The pulmonary artery can tolerate 3 hours of warm ischemia in the nonheart-beating cadaver without loss of endothelium-dependent relaxation and smooth muscle function. The dysfunction seen in 6-hour-old cadaver aortas was normalized after transplantation and 24 hours of reperfusion.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
R
R
Bolys
R
R
Ingemansson
T
T
Sjöberg
S
S
Steen
D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009926:Organ Preservation; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology