Since the dawn of heart transplantation in the 1960s, medical care of heart transplant recipients has varied from center to center and been guided by the experience of individual clinicians. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has convened experts in all areas of heart transplantation to develop practice guidelines for the care of heart transplant recipients. The Executive Summary of those guidelines is being published as a special featured article in the August issue of The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.