Preservation of the pancreas for transplantation.

Twenty-four hour hypothermic bloodless pulsatile perfusion of the canine pancreas did not have any detrimental effect on the survival rate of minimally immunosuppressed recipients. On the contrary, there was a favorable trend toward improved long term survival of perfused and transplanted pancreas. Fresh grafts or those stored under hypothermia survived for shorter periods of time than did the perfused grafts. Apancreatic dogs survived only for a few days after pancreatectomy. Hypothermic pulsatile perfusion appeared to be a better method of preservation than hypothermic storage of pancreatic allografts.