Early Signs of Sinoatrial Reinnervation in the Transplanted Heart

Heart transplantation (HTx) surgically transects all connections to the heart, including the autonomic nerves. We prospectively examined signs, timing and consequences of early sympathetic and parasympathetic sinoatrial reinnervation, as well as explored indirect evidence of afferent cardiopulmonary reinnervation.Fifty HTx recipients were assessed at 2.5, 6, and 12 mo after HTx. For comparison, 50 healthy controls were examined once. Continuous,...