Volume- loading in experimental heterotopic heart transplantation

Objectives: Hemodynamically non-loaded heterotopic heart transplants (NL) in rodent models are widely used to model the effects of unloading the human heart with left ventricular assist devices (LVAD). However, whether NL represents the clinical condition of unloading remains controversial. Here we hypothesize that volume loaded heterotopic heart transplants (VL) in experimental heterotopic heart transplantation (hHTx) are superior to NL.