The earliest ultrastructural manifestation of hypoxic cell injury is the presence of intracellular edema. Does this intracellular edema affect the ability to cryopreserve intact myocardium? To answer this guestion, a model for anoxia induced intracellular edema (IE) was designed based on clinical intraoperative myocardial preservation protocol. The aortas of 250 gm male Sprague-Dawley rats were cannulated and a retrograde flush of Plegisol at 8°C was infused over 90 sec. The hearts were excised and placed in a 28°C bath of Lactated Ringers for 1 h. The left ventricular free wall was then sliced and the myocardium was slam frozen. Control rats (C) were anesthetized, the hearts approached by median sternotomy, and the left ventricular free wall frozen in situ immediately after slicing. The slam frozen samples were obtained utilizing the DDK PS1000, which was precooled to -185°C in liguid nitrogen. The tissue was in contact with the metal mirror for a dwell time of 20 sec, and stored in liguid nitrogen until freeze dry processing (Lightfoot, 1990).
All left ventricular free wall ruptures are not the same: Our experience
