ABSTRACT
The vascular compliance and contractility of vascular smooth muscle of rat freshly
amputated hindlimbs and hindlimbs preserved at -1°C for 12, 24, 48, and 72 hr were
evaluated using a fresh blood extracorporeal circulatory system. Vascular compliance
was measured under physiologic circulatory conditions (blood pressure of the amputated
limb was maintained at 80 to 150 mmHg). Vascular compliance after storage at -1°C
for 12 hr or longer decreased significantly from that of freshly amputated limbs (p < 0.01). To evaluate the contractility of vascular smooth muscle, the arterial blood
pressure in the amputated limbs was transiently increased with injections of norepinephrine.
The contractility after storage at -1°C for up to 24 hr was not different from that
of freshly amputated limbs. However, it decreased significantly after 48 hr or longer.
A comparison of these results with an earlier study that used identical methods to
investigate limbs preserved at 4°C suggested that storage at -1°C was inferior to
that at 4°C with respect to vascular compliance, but was superior to storage at 4°C
with respect to smooth muscle contractility.
