Comparison of model establishment of cervical and abdominal heterotopic heart transplantation in rats

Objective:To develop a rat model of heterotopic heart transplantation with high postoperative survival rate by using the simplified surgical technique,for further studies on transplantation immunology,pathology and organ protection.Methods:The operation on recipients went fist so that the vessels could be anastomosed right after donor′s heart had been cut off.Donor′s temperature decreased by saline ice cube placed in abdomen until its axillary fossa felt cold,then the thoracic cavity was opened to stop heartbeat quickly by ice physiological saline.Whole process was mainly completed by a single man without microscope assistance.Development of abdominal heart transplantation took place on the base of Ono′s procedure.Developed abdominal heart transplantation was compared with cervical heart-lung transplantation. Results:The success rate of abdominal heart transplantation was up to 93.2%(68/73) versus 80.9%(38/47) in the cervical group(Chi-square test,P0.05).And,there′s no significant difference between two groups in operating time(group t-test,P0.05). Conclusion:The advantage of developed abdominal heart transplantation lies in simplifying the procedure and succeeding highly.But cervical heart-lung transplantation has a chance to undergo second grafting.