Organ perfusion, artificial

Medical appHcations of PFC emulsions for organ perfusion and intravenous uses have received much attention in recent years. The first commercial blood substitute (Fluosol DA 20%, trademark of the Green Cross Corp.) employed perfluorodecalin, and improved, second generation products based on this PFC, or perfluorooctylbromide, are now under development (20,21). The relatively high oxygen dissolving capabiHty of PFCs undedies these appHcations (see Blood, artificial). 

In the isolated perfused kidney model, the artery of the kidney is perfused and urinary samples as well as venous blood samples can be collected to determine the drug concentration. A serious drawback of the model is that isolation and artificial perfusion greatly affect the function of the organ as shown by a dramatic drop in the glomerular filtration rate. Another in-vitro model is the isolated tubule in which samples can be taken from both the luminal and basolateral sites of the tubule [140,141]. The disadvantage of this technique as well as of the isolated kidney model, is that they require specific equipment and expertise and therefore can only be performed in rather specialized laboratories. Experiments using freshly isolated or cultured cells are more simple to carry out [142,143]. Tubular cells can be grown in a po-... 

Apart from blood transfusion, an important application of artificial blood is as a perfusate for tentative conservation of organs during surgery, because the stability of its emulsion over long periods of time is very helpful in this case. For this, one often employs perfluorinated morpholins and perfluoroalkyltetrahydrofurans. 

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