A Study on the Perfusion Preservation, Resuscitation, and Transplantation of a Rat Heart Isolated for 96 Hours

Krebs-Henseleit (KH) solution was used to fill the heart chamber of an isolated rat heart before it was immersed in perfluorocarbon (PFC), which is an inert fluid. A gas mixture (PCO2 = 150 hPa and PO2 = 850 hPa) was then aerated at a constant rate into the PFC solution, and the isolated heart was thereafter preserved for 96 h with KH solution perfused continuously at a rate of 0.1 ml/h from the aorta of the isolated heart through a cannula. After preservation, the preserved heart was heterotopically transplanted into the neck of a recipient rat and then it was resuscitated. Using this method for preserving mammalian organs, we attained reproducibility after perfusion preservation for 96 h.