Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Apr 2024)

Novel portable hypothermic machine perfusion preservation device enhances cardiac viability of donated human hearts

  • Kristina Andrijauskaite,
  • Rafael J. Veraza,
  • Riley P. Lopez,
  • Zach Maxwell,
  • Isabella Cano,
  • Exal E. Cisneros,
  • Israel J. Jessop,
  • Maria Basurto,
  • George Lamberson,
  • Michelle D. Watt,
  • Joseph Nespral,
  • Masahiro Ono,
  • Leonid Bunegin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1376101
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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IntroductionHeart transplant remains the gold standard treatment for patients with advanced heart failure. However, the list of patients waiting for a heart transplant continues to increase. We have developed a portable hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion device, the VP.S ENCORE®, to extend the allowable preservation time. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of the VP.S. ENCORE® using deceased donors derived hearts.MethodsHearts from brain-dead donors not utilized for transplant (n = 11) were offered for research from the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), South and Central Texas' Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) and were preserved in the VP.S ENCORE® for 4 (n = 2), 6 (n = 3), and 8 (n = 3) hours or were kept in static cold storage (SCS) (n = 3). After preservation, the hearts were placed in an isolated heart Langendorff model for reperfusion and evaluated for cardiac function.ResultsThe mean donor age was 37.82 ± 12.67 with the youngest donor being 19 and the oldest donor being 58 years old. SCS hearts mean weight gain (%) was −1.4 ± 2.77, while perfused at 4 h was 5.6 ± 6.04, perfused at 6 h 2.1 ± 6.04, and 8 h was 7.2 ± 10.76. Venous and arterial lactate concentrations were less than 2.0 mmol/L across all perfused hearts. Left ventricular contractility (+dPdT, mmHg/s) for 4 h (1,214 ± 1,064), 6 (1,565 ± 141.3), and 8 h (1,331 ± 403.6) were within the range of healthy human heart function. Thus, not significant as compared to the SCS group (1,597 ± 342.2). However, the left ventricular relaxation (mmHg/s) was significant in 6-hour perfused heart (p < 0.05) as compared to SCS. Gene expression analysis of inflammation markers (IL-6, IL-1β) showed no significant differences between SCS and perfused hearts, but a 6-hour perfusion led to a downregulated expression of these markers.DiscussionThe results demonstrate that the VP.S ENCORE® device enhances cardiac viability and exhibits comparable cardiac function to a healthy heart. The implications of these findings suggest that the VP.S ENCORE® could introduce a new paradigm in the field of organ preservation, especially for marginal hearts.

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