The Annals of thoracic surgery
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University of Wisconsin (UW) solution has been reported to enhance myocardial preservation in heart transplantation. To evaluate the effects of UW solution on coronary artery endothelial function, we designed experiments to compare UW solution with a standard crystalloid hyperkalemic cardioplegic solution (CHCS). Isolated rat hearts were studied in a modified Langendorff apparatus for coronary endothelial function. ⋯ Endothelium-dependent relaxation and endothelium-independent relaxation of the coronary arteries were tested by infusing 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) (10(-6) mol/L) and sodium nitroprusside (10(-5) mol/L), respectively, before and after perfusion with and storage in one of the two cardioplegic solutions. The coronary vasodilatation induced by 5HT and sodium nitroprusside was not altered in hearts perfused with (group 1) or perfused with and stored in CHCS (group 4). Coronary flow increase after 5HT infusion was significantly decreased in hearts perfused with (group 2) (before, 35% +/- 10%; after, 13% +/- 10%; p < 0.01) or perfused with and stored in UW solution (group 5) (before, 34% +/- 5%; after, -5% +/- 12%), indicating severe endothelial dysfunction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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A simplified method of transatrial cannulation of the coronary sinus during cardiopulmonary bypass, with the heart completely decompressed, is described. The technique is easy to adopt and inherently safe because the catheter is guided toward the great cardiac vein visually, rather than by manual palpation.