HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Thomas M. Egan Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Inokawa, H. Articles by Egan, T. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Inokawa, H. Articles by Egan, T. M. Related Collections Lung - transplantation

Ann Thorac Surg 2006;82:1219-1225
© 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

---

Original Articles: General Thoracic

Ex-Vivo Perfusion and Ventilation of Rat Lungs From Non-Heart-Beating Donors Before Transplant

^a Department of Cancer and Thoracic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama, Japan
^b Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
^c Department of Pathology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Accepted for publication May 4, 2006.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr Egan, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, 3040 Burnett-Womack Building, CB 7065, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7065 (Email: ltxtme{at}med.unc.edu).

Presented at the Poster Session of the Forty-second Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Chicago, IL, Jan 30–Feb 1, 2006.

BACKGROUND: We developed an ex-vivo circuit to evaluate human lungs retrieved from non-heart-beating donors. We assessed the effect of a similar circuit on the function of transplanted rat lungs retrieved from non-heart-beating donors.

METHODS: One hour after death, Sprague-Dawley rat heart–lung blocks were flushed with 20 mL of cold Perfadex, stored cold for 1 hour, then warmed to 37°C in a circuit perfused with Earle's crystalloid solution with or without washed porcine erythrocytes (hematocrit 12% to 15%). At 37°C, lungs were ventilated for 15 minutes with alveolar gas, perfusion-cooled to 20°C, flushed again with cold Perfadex, and then stored cold for 2.5 hours. The left lung was transplanted using a modified cuff technique with flow probes on the main and left pulmonary arteries. After 1 hour of reperfusion, arterial blood gases from the left pulmonary vein and wet/dry weight ratio (W/D) of both donor lungs were determined. Lungs transplanted after retrieval from heart-beating or non-heart-beating donors served as controls (n = 6 per group).

RESULTS: Lungs gained weight in the circuit but W/D and PO ₂ were similar after transplantation for all groups. After transplantation, vascular resistance was higher and dynamic compliance was lower for lungs perfused in the circuit. Myeloperoxidase and conjugated diene levels were modestly elevated in lungs transplanted from non-heart-beating donors irrespective of perfusion in the circuit.

CONCLUSIONS: Rat lungs are suitable for transplant after ex-vivo perfusion and ventilation. This model closely mimics methods used to evaluate the function of lungs retrieved from human non-heart-beating donors and can economically evaluate ex-vivo therapies for lungs retrieved from non-heart-beating donors.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. A. Corris and J. D. Christie Update in Transplantation 2006 Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., March 1, 2007; 175(5): 432 - 435. [Full Text] [PDF]