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Updated: Jun 6, 2026
A Modified Murine Heterotopic Heart Transplant Protocol Matching Contemporary Standards of Aseptic Technique, Anesthesia, and Analgesia
Published on: September 28, 2022
Heterotopic heart transplantation in rats: improved anesthetic and surgical technique
A Ruzza1, R Vespignani, L S Czer
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Objective:
An updated anesthetic and surgical technique in a rat model of heterotopic heart transplantation is described.
Materials And Methods:
A microsurgical technique via a suprarenal approach was performed, and is described in stepwise fashion, and several technical improvements are compared with previous descriptions. Lewis rats were used as donors and recipients (syngeneic model).
Results:
Factors that affected early surgical outcome included type of anesthetic used; surgeon skill, experience in handling blood vessels, and knowledge of small-animal anatomy; gentle manipulation during the operation; and duration of surgery (<1 hour). Use of isoflurane inhalation anesthesia (10 rats) vs intraperitoneal injection of ketamine, 75 mg/kg, and dexmedetomidine, 0.25 mg/kg (20 rats), was associated with improved early survival (90%) and no occurrence of paralysis, paraparesis, bleeding, or intestinal ischemia. Long-term survival (>11 months) with a functioning graft was achieved in all 9 surviving animals.
Conclusions:
Survival was substantially improved with administration of isoflurane anesthesia; surgeon microvascular surgical skills and knowledge of small-animal anatomy, and duration of surgery less than 1 hour. These factors collectively contributed to successful early outcomes after heterotopic heart transplantation in rats, with 90% freedom from morbidity and mortality, and resulted in long-term survival (>11 months) with a functioning graft in a syngeneic model. This heterotopic model in rats is suitable for short- and long-term studies of heart transplantation.
