Cardiac surgical research and heart transplantation in Papio ursinus

The use of non-human primates stems from the concern for employing an animal genetically closely related to man. During a 3 year period over 300 baboons were handled in the Cardiac Research Unit and more than 60 heterotopic cardiac transplantations were performed. The baboon presents multiple advantages if compared with the problems arising from the use of the dog or the pig in cardiac surgical experimentation. This experimental work illustrated these advantages and demonstrated that heterotopic cardiac transplantation is a valuable model for treatment of patients in end stage cardiac failure. The procedure has been performed successfully in 16 patients, 12 being presently alive, 1-36 months following transplant.