May preservation solution affect the incidence of graft vasculopathy in transplanted heart?

Vasculopathy as a manifestation of chronic rejection of transplanted heart may limit long term patient survival. Development of vasculopathy can be associated with intima injury during ischemia and reperfusion. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preservation solution may improve posttransplant heart recovery and reduce the incidence of graft vasculopathy. From 93 to 99, 48 donors having received < 10 microg/kg/d of dopamine, were accepted for 40 male and 8 female recipients. They were prospectively assigned to three groups: Custodiol (n=15), Viaspan (n=17), and Celsior (n=16). Donor and recipient characteristics, cold ischemia time, organ procurement, transplantation procedure, and posttransplant immunosuppression were comparable among the groups. In Celsior group, spontaneous sinus rhythm recovered more often (12/16 pts, p=0.01) and higher cardiac output (6.5 l/min, p=0.03) was noted. No significant difference occurred among the groups in respect to inotropic support, cardiac index, pulmonary artery pressure, and biopsy performed during transplantation. The intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery performed one year posttransplant, revealed significantly lower values of arterial area and arterial wall area in Celsior group. No significant difference in arterial lumen area occurred in the three groups. In Celsior group, lowest percent of intimal hypertrophy (24.23% +/- 9.83%, p=0.001) and less frequent (11/16 pts, p=0.001) chronic rejection (arterial hypertrophy=0.5 mm) was noted. Endomyocardial biopsy performed simulaneously to IVUS examination revealed no difference in pathologic lesions, except significantly less extensive fibrosis in Celsior group. During the 3.4 yrs of follow-up, freedom of biopsy proven acute rejection (=2(o)ISHLT) was significantly higher in Celsior (p=0.01). In this study Celsior allowed for better post transplant heart recovery and accounted for less incidence of vasculopathy and chronic rejection in the midterm follow-up.