Heart transplantation--an autopsy review

Cardiac transplantation is now a well recognised form of treatment for several forms of end stage cardiac failure, particularly ischaemic heart disease and cardiomyopathies. By the end of 1988, seven patients from Northern Ireland had received cardiac transplants in Papworth and Harefield Hospitals. Of these, four have died, three as a result of rejection and the fourth from widespread cytomegalovirus infection. The autopsy findings in these four cases are presented in this paper.