Modified suture technique in a mouse heart transplant model

The mouse abdominal heart transplantation model is a basic and important immunological research model. We developed a technique for placing entire everting sutures instead of half inverting and half everting sutures for anastomosis between donor and recipients' caval veins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this modified method.

Each technique was used in 25 mice subjected to isogenic abdominal heart transplantation. Recipient operation time, graft warm ischaemia time, time of caval anastomosis, and re-beating time were recorded. After transplantation, the heartbeat was palpated through the abdominal wall once a day for 100 days.

Recipient operation time (40.7 ± 2.5 min vs. 44.3 ± 2.3 min, p < 0.01), cava-caval anastomosis time (8.4 ± 1.3 min vs. 12.1 ± 1.2 min, p < 0.01), and warm ischaemia time were significantly shorter (23.4 ± 1.7 min vs. 27.2 ± 1.6 min, p < 0.01) with the modified technique. Re-beating time was 1.2 ± 0.4 minutes with the modified technique vs. 1.5 ± 0.5 minutes (p = 0.04). There was a tendency for less surgical complications in the modified group, but there were no differences in survival rates.

The new suturing technique for mouse cardiac transplantation facilitates easier anastomosis of the outflow tract, thereby reducing operation, warm ischaemia, and re-beating times.