Alteration in systemic vascular resistance and cardiac output during acute cellular rejection and recovery in heart transplant recipients.

Coronary vascular reserve is impaired during acute cellular rejection of the orthotopically transplanted heart, but changes in the peripheral vasculature during rejection have not been well described. To investigate whether peripheral vascular compensatory mechanisms are preserved after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT), we longitudinally observed systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and cardiac output (CO) during acute cellular rejection. CO decreased during high-grade acute cellular rejection, and maintenance of mean arterial pressure was achieved by increases in SVR, and these changes did not return to baseline until several months after histologic resolution of rejection.