PURPOSE--To analyze patients operated on in Brazil from May 1968 until June 1993. METHODS--Three patients were transplanted in the historical period of 1968 and 1969. In the modern period from 1984-1993, 380 transplants were performed in 379 patients. These patients were transplanted in 23 services in 20 hospitals. These services are in 12 cities of 11 states. The state with the larger number of patients was Säo Paulo with 239 transplants followed by Minas Gerais with 58. RESULTS--In this casuistry, the patients were predominantly male (81//) with age between 31 and 40 years (30//). The most frequent indication was idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (53.4//) followed by ischemic (26.8//) and with a special reference for the Chagas' etiology (11//). The results in 297 patients showed 48 immediate and 49 late deaths. The actuarial survival curve showed 64.7//and 47.4//respectively after one and five years. CONCLUSION--Important differences were observed in relation to the international casuistry but even so benefits were present when compared with medical treatment