Extended ex vivo preservation of the heart and lungs. Effects of acellular oxygen-carrying perfusates and indomethacin on the autoperfused working heart-lung preparation.

The autoperfused working heart-lung preparation has been proposed as a method for long-term heart-lung preservation. We investigated the effects of acellular oxygen-carrying perfusates (study 1) and the effect of donor pretreatment with indomethacin (study 2) on the working ex vivo heart-lung block. We conclude that alteration of the cellular and humoral components of autologous blood may prove advantageous for increasing the utility of the autoperfused working heart-lung preparation as a preservation technique