A COMPARISON OF PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES IN A VASCULARIZED RAT LARYNGEAL TRANSPLANT MODEL

In earlier laryngeal transplantation studies by Takenouchi, et al.,(1) the longest ischemic interval tolerated was 45 minutes. A new animal model and enhanced preservative solutions made reassessment timely. Th is study evaluated two determinants of graft viability: 1. the duratio n of ischemia and 2. the composition of the preservative media. Three groups of viable transplants were assessed. Groups I and II were prese rved with iced heparinized saline with respective ischemic intervals o f 3 and 6 hours. Group III was preserved with the Wisconsin solution d uring a 20-hour ischemic interval. AU animals were sacrificed at 24 ho urs. Representative sections of group I confirmed viability whereas gr oup II exhibited both clinical and histologic evidence of irreversible vascular change. In contrast, most representative sections in group I II had little demonstrable change. These data suggest that laryngeal a llografts can endure prolonged ischemic intervals if properly maintain ed.