Serial Assessment of Sympathetic Reinnervation After Orthotopic Heart Transplantation

Abstract

The present data confirm the low likelihood of sympathetic reinnervation within 18 months after HTX. Once the reinnervation process is initiated, a continuous growth is observed even late after HTX, suggesting a progressive nature of reinnervation. Reinnervation, however, remained regionally heterogeneous, and a complete restoration was not found until 15 years after HTX.