Echocardiographic assessment of the donor interatrial septum in heart transplant recipients

The donor interatrial septa of 46 heart transplant recipients were measured from 4 serial echocardiograms. The purpose of the study was to determine the thickness of the donor interatrial septum and to assess whether changes in the septal thickness occur over time, either with ischemic duration at the time of surgery or with the number of treated rejection episodes during the first year after transplant. This study showed that the donor interatrial septum has increased thickness after heart transplantation but returns to normal by the 12 months after transplant. However, there was no correlation with the number of treated rejection episodes or ischemic time.