Cardiac Storage with Glycerol at Zero Centigrade

At present, the only long-term storage method for tissues and organs is freezing with glycerol. Much work has been done in establishing low-temperature storage norms for tissues such as spermatozoa,^6,7 blood,^3,8 bone,⁵ arteries,⁴ skin,² and endocrine organs.⁹ Little or no successful long-term cold storage work has been done with the mammalian heart, though freezing down to almost absolute zero has been accomplished with transient recovery.¹ In the studies and results obtained and herein reported, rats' hearts were successfully stored in glycerol at temperatures ranging from 25 C to 0 C.

Method  Rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital, injected with 0.25 mg. of heparin,¹⁰ and exsanguinated by severing the abdominal aorta. The rib cage was opened, and the intact heart, lungs, and aorta were excised. A cannula made from a blunted 18-gauge needle was tied into the aorta with its tip just above the