I read with interest and warmth the letter titled “So You Want To See Your Heart” in the November 15, 2010, issue of The American Journal of Cardiology .

For the past decade, all our heart transplant recipients have routinely been invited and encouraged to view their explanted hearts 6 to 8 weeks after their surgery. Virtually all have accepted the offer of spending time with our pathologist and if necessary the recipient coordinator and psychologist, which we believe adds to the healing process and affirms the procedures they have been through. After the “viewing,” recipients are asked how they would like their “old hearts” to be disposed of. The options offered are to take them home, to be buried, to be kept in a special place, to be used for donor awareness teaching, to be cremated by the hospital, or to be kept for research. If the latter is chosen, the recipient provides written informed consent.