[Different ultrastructure of the right and left myocardium after preservation for 24 hours (author's transl)]

After a 24 hrs' preservation of rat hearts, in 22% the viability test with allogenic perfusion showed a singular recovery of the right ventricle (57 of 257 experiments). The ultrastructural aspects correlate with the differences of the function. The micrographs of the right myocardium show--except a mild edema--ultrastructural integrity, but the micrographs of the left myocardium show marked alterations of the ultrastructure: edema, swollen mitochondria with destroyed cristal membranes, swelling of the sacrotubular system and alterations of myofibrils.