Figure 2.

An individual's body weight at implantation is not correlated with its survival time. Ten mice with high body weight (21–25 g) did not survive 14 days after implantation; nine of these (triangles and diamonds) represent animals that did not receive postoperative fluid support and warmth. One transgenic mouse (open circles) received postoperative intensive care but was sacrificed 6 days after surgery because of repeated bleeding (probably promoted by the impaired blood coagulation properties of the tg6 mouse line). The remaining 94 mice benefited from postoperative intensive care as they survived and were in a healthy condition at >3 weeks after implantation, regardless of body weight at implantation [even the 14 mice that had particularly low body weight (<20 g) at implantation].