Work

Novel cuff design to facilitate anastomosis of small vessels during cervical heterotopic heart transplantation in rats.

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Cervical heterotopic heart transplantation in rodents is a useful tool for studying transplantation immunology. However, end-to-end anastomosis of small-diameter vessels by using standard microsurgical technique is technically difficult and can require prolonged graft ischemia. A novel cuff system was designed from polyethylene tubing to allow anastomosis of vessels with internal luminal diameters of 0.3 to 0.9 mm. Key features include a spring-like adjustable lumen to facilitate vessel eversion, a barb to hold vessel ends in place after eversion, and a handling system that allows easy manipulation and stabilization of cuffs by a single operator. After a training period, a single operator performed a series of 8 transplants in which the mean warm ischemic time of grafts was 8.5 ± 2.9 min. Here we provide a detailed description of how to construct and perform end-to-end vessel anastomosis by using our novel cuff system. The discussion of the technique is supplemented with tips learned during the process of developing a reliable experimental model.

Source: PubMed Central

Authors: Tathyana F Fensterer, Cynthia J Miller, Gustavo Perez-Abadia, Claudio Maldonado

Institution: University of Louisville

Language: English

Topic: Transplantation: Methods and Outcomes

Subfield: Surgery

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institutes of Health

Award: New anti-complement therapy to reduce reperfusion injury: Phase II