Electrocardiograms of dogs with heart homografts.

TWO ASPECTS of the electrocardiogram, rhythm and voltage, have proved to be of particular importance in the management of dogs with orthotopic cardiac homotransplants. Arrhythmias are frequent in the early postoperative course as the heart recovers from the anoxic insult and adjusts to the denervated state and again in the later stages of cardiac rejection. Changes in the electrocardiographic voltage allow the early detection of threatened rejection, and these voltage changes generally revert after appropriate adjustments in immunosuppressive drug therapy. In this communication the electrocardiographic findings on 50 homografted hearts that survived longer than 4 days will be presented to emphasize the value of this modality in monitoring the cardiac transplant.