EXTENDED CARDIOPULMONARY PRESERVATION - UNIVERSITY-OF-WISCONSIN SOLUTION VERSUS BRETSCHNEIDER CARDIOPLEGIC SOLUTION

Application of the University of Wisconsin cold storage solution has r apidly expanded to include medium-term to long-term preservation of vi rtually all intraabdominal organs. Its use in intrathoracic organ tran splantation has also been suggested. We therefore examined the efficac y of the University of Wisconsin solution in a primate allotransplanta tion model for preservation of hearts, and as a simple single-solution system for static preservation of heart-lung blocks, for periods of i schemia ranging from 6 to 24 hours. For comparison, we employed the hi stidine-tryptophane-ketogluterate cardioplegic solution of Bretschneid er. University of Wisconsin solution provided superior results with re gard to clinical outcome and hemodynamic recovery of hearts after isch emic periods of up to 16 hours. This was in contrast to Bretschneider' s solution, which allowed storage of hearts for periods of only up to 10 hours. Heart-lung blocks were equally well preserved with either Un iversity of Wisconsin or Bretschneider's solution after 6 to 12 hours, although the University of Wisconsin solution group exhibited a more notable increase in pulmonary water content. This was in accordance wi th histological data, which suggested that, although hemodynamic recov ery of hearts stored for periods longer than 10 hours was poor, preser vation of pulmonary ultrastructure was far superior using Bretschneide r's solution as compared with University of Wisconsin solution after a n ischemic period of up to 16 hours.