Pulmonary mechanics after cardio-pulmonary transplantation, an experimental study.
An experimental model was developed in pigs (weight: 25 +/- 2 kg), to evaluate pulmonary mechanics during the first 2 h of reperfusion following heart-lung transplantation. We studied two groups with three transplantations each: group A (45 min of preservation) and group B (6 h of preservation). After rinsing out the heart-lung mass by the injection of a cold intracellular solution (K+ = 115 mEq/l) into the aorta and the pulmonary artery, the organs were removed and conserved in a cold environment (0.5 degrees C). The orthotopic heart-lung transplantation was carried out using extra-corporeal circulation. Pulmonary mechanics were evaluated before and after transplantation by measuring the pulmonary compliance (C), and the aero-dynamic resistance (R) with an interrupted air flow technique. [table: see text] The duration of ischaemia appeared to be a pernicious factor in cardiopulmonary function. In all cases, the protection protocol of the heart-lung block had allowed a cutting-off of the cardiorespiratory assistance. However, there were major pulmonary mechanical perturbations, associated with a reduction in the pulmonary compliance and a very important increase in the aerodynamic resistance.
Carteaux
J P
JP
Laboratoire de Chirurgie expérimentale, Faculté de Médecine, C. H. U. de Brabois, Vandoeuvre les Nancy, France.
Mertes
P M
PM
Dopff
C
C
Borrely
J
J
Hubert
T
T
Peslin
R
R
Villemot
J P
JP
D000818:Animals; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002314:Cardioplegic Solutions; D006339:Heart Rate; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology*; D008170:Lung Compliance; D023421:Models, Animal; D011651:Pulmonary Artery; D015424:Reperfusion; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000502:physiology
D002314:Cardioplegic Solutions