Twenty-four-hour Normothermic Ex Vivo Heart Perfusion With Low Flow Functional Assessment in an Adult Porcine Model

Cold static storage and normothermic ex vivo heart perfusion are routinely limited to 6 h. This report describes intermittent left atrial (LA) perfusion that allows cardiac functional assessment in a working heart mode.

Using our adult porcine model, general anesthesia was induced and a complete cardiectomy was performed following cardioplegic arrest. Back-table instrumentation was completed and normothermic ex vivo heart perfusion (NEHP) was initiated in a nonworking heart mode (Langendorff). After 1 h of resuscitation and recovery, LA perfusion was initiated and the heart was transitioned to a coronary flow-only working heart mode for 30 min. Baseline working heart parameters were documented and the heart was returned to nonworking mode. Working heart assessments were performed for 30 min every 6 h for 24 h.

Twenty-four-hour NEHP on 9 consecutive hearts (280 ± 42.1 g) was successful and no significant differences were found between working heart parameters at baseline and after 24 h of perfusion. There was no difference between initial and final measurements of LA mean pressures (5.0 ± 3.1 versus 9.0 ± 6.5 mm Hg, P  = 0.22), left ventricular systolic pressures (44.3 ± 7.2 versus 39.1 ± 9.0 mm Hg, P  = 0.13), mean aortic pressures (30.9 ± 5.8 versus 28.1 ± 8.1 mm Hg, P  = 0.37), and coronary resistance (0.174 ± 0.046 versus 0.173 ± 0.066 mL/min/g, P  = 0.90). There were also no significant differences between lactate (2.4 ± 0.5 versus 2.6 ± 0.4 mmol/L, P  = 0.17) and glucose (173 ± 75 versus 156 ± 70 mg/dL, P  = 0.37).

A novel model using intermittent LA perfusion to create a coronary flow-only working heart mode for assessment of ex vivo cardiac function has been successfully developed.