Objectives: to analyze the occurrence and predisposing factors for surgical site infection in patients submitted to heart transplantation, evaluating the relationship between cases of infections and the variables related to the patient and the surgical procedure. Method: retrospective cohort study, with review of the medical records of patients older than 18 years submitted to heart transplantation. The correlation between variables was evaluated by using Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. Results: the sample consisted of 86 patients, predominantly men, with severe systemic disease, submitted to extensive preoperative hospitalizations. Signs of surgical site infection were observed in 9.3% of transplanted patients, with five (62.5%) superficial incisional, two (25%) deep and one (12.5%) case of organ/space infection. There was no statistically significant association between the variables related to the patient and the surgery. Conclusion: there was no association between the studied variables and the cases of surgical site infection, possibly due to the small number of cases of infection observed in the sample investigated.