Midthermia

Perhaps a compromise between near normothermic temperatures and the typical 4°C perfusion would be best for clinical use. Here the warmer temperatures at midthermia (15–20°C) may promote metabolic repair but remain cool enough to suppress metabolism and slow reactions and flow rates so that machine automation can be practical for clinical use.

Notwithstanding that cell culture experiments from Rauen et al have demonstrated that the majority of cell damage, induced by rapid warming up of the medium are only observed upon transition from hypo- to midthermia (between 8 and 16°C), suggesting the “rewarming injury” to be operative predominantly at temperatures below approximately 16°C.²²