Abstract: Objective In order to improve the condition of shortage of donor organs for heart transplantation,the partial selective criteria for potential recipients and donors could be suitably broa-dened.Methods The clinical data of 989 cases undergoing heart transplantation between 1986 and 1997 were studied retrospectively.The effects of age of the patients on the survival of the recipients after operation were compared.Results There were no significant difference in survival rate between 58 cases who received donor hearts from donors with age higher than 55 years and 93 1 cases who received donor hearts from donors with age lower than 55 years(P>0.05).Furthermore,there were also no significant difference in survival rate between 119 cases of recipients with age higher than 60 years and 870 cases with age lower than 60 years(P<0.05).Conclusions The heart transplantation provides irlore effective treatment for many end-stage heart diseases due to the selective criteria for potential recipients and donors is suitably broadened.