Figure 5

Sequential outline of the experimental procedure. After anesthesia, the donor aortic arch was harvested for all experimental groups. In the control group, after preparation, two rings were mounted in organ bath chambers, while one ring was stored as a paraffin block. For the IR and IR + Duragraft groups, the aortic arch was preserved for 1 h at 4 °C either in saline or Duragraft, respectively. Then, the donor aortic arch was implanted into the recipient. After 1 h of blood reperfusion, the donor aortic arch was harvested, and two prepared rings were mounted in organ bath chambers, while one ring was stored as a paraffin block. The rings were excluded from the organ bath experiments analysis if there was a technical problem, and they were considered damaged.