Significance of thyroid dysfunction in human cardiac allograft procurement.

Twenty-two potential cardiac allograft donors had evaluation of thyroid function performed just prior to cardiectomy. Despite statistically significant abnormal thyroid function, no correlation to graft function or failure was observable. Multiple myocardial microinfarcts, undetected at the time of donor selection were detected in two hearts that were abandoned prior to transplantation and possibly another heart that failed as an allograft in a heart-lung transplant recipient.