The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation
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J. Heart Lung Transplant. · Jan 1991
Metabolic, functional, and histologic characterization of the heterotopically transplanted rat heart when used as a model for the study of long-term recovery from global ischemia.
The objective of this study was to assess the utility of the heterotopically transplanted rat heart as a model in which to assess long-term (0 to 7 days) postischemic recovery. This was achieved by characterizing the metabolic, functional, and histologic changes that occur during the first week after implantation. In the first series of studies (n = 6/group), hearts were subjected to 1 hour of global ischemia at room temperature (21 degrees +/- 1 degree C), during which time they were transplanted into the abdomens of the recipients. ⋯ In additional studies to assess the functional capacity of the unloaded transplanted heart, hearts were excised 1 hour and 1 day after transplantation and perfused as isolated working preparations: their function was then compared with that of fresh nontransplanted hearts. A time-dependent deterioration of all indices of cardiac function was observed. Morphologic studies of transplanted hearts with and without an inserted and inflated intraventricular balloon revealed a rapid reduction of left ventricular cavity volume during the first 24 hours in hearts without a balloon, and progressive severe fibrosis, endomyocardial necrosis, and inflammation over the 7-day period in hearts in which the balloon was intermittently inflated for functional assessment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)