Long-term preservation of the heart: the effect of infusion pressure during continuous hypothermic cardioplegia.

Continuous hypothermic low-flow infusion of cardioplegic or other preservation solutions has been advocated for extending the maximum duration of storage of donor hearts for transplantation. We report the effect of varying the pressure during continuous infusion of St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution on functional recovery after long-term storage. Isolated working rat hearts (six per group) were aerobically perfused (20 minutes), and control indexes of cardiac function were measured; hypothermic ischemic arrest was then induced by a 3-minute infusion (60 cm H2O) of cold (7.5 degrees C) St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution. Hearts were then stored for 8 hours at 7.5 degrees C, either immersed in St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution (noninfused control) or continuously infused at varying infusion pressures with St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution, which had been both oxygenated and supplemented by the addition of glucose (11.1 mmol/L). After 8 hours of hypothermic ischemia, the rate of cardioplegic infusion was measured as an index of vascular resistance. The hearts were then reperfused (Langendorff) for 30 minutes during which creatine kinase leakage was measured. The hearts were then converted to working preparations for 20 minutes, and the recovery of contractile function was measured and expressed as a percentage of the preischemic control value. In hearts that had been subjected to continuous infusion at 6, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 cm H2O, the recoveries of aortic flow were 0% (p less than 0.05), 38.6% +/- 5.1% (p less than 0.05), 36.2% +/- 3.6% (p less than 0.05), 14.0% +/- 8.0%, 5.8% +/- 2.9%, and 9.9% +/- 4.7%, respectively, and the postischemic leakage of creatine kinase was 98.7 +/- 19.5 (p less than 0.05), 26.2 +/- 4.2, 15.5 +/- 3.4, 30.4 +/- 11.1, 109.8 +/- 21.8 (p less than 0.05), and 136.0 +/- 14.1 (p less than 0.05) IU/30 min/gm dry weight, respectively. In contrast, in noninfused control hearts the recovery of aortic flow was 11.1% +/- 7.5%, and creatine kinase leakage was 58.9 +/- 8.7 IU/30 min/gm dry weight. In conclusion, maximum myocardial preservation was obtained with continuous low-flow hypothermic cardioplegic infusion at pressures between 10 and 20 cm H2O.