Neurologic Complications of Solid Organ Transplantation

Among patients receiving solid organ transplants, approximately one-third will develop neurologic symptoms. Most of these neurologic symptoms will occur within 30 days of their transplantation. These neurologic symptoms include neurotoxicity of immunosuppressive agents, seizures, encephalopathy, cerebrovascular events, opportunistic infections, posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder, and central pontine myelinosis. Some neurologic complications are seen more frequently in specific organ transplant recipients. For example, ischemic stroke is seen more frequently in heart and kidney transplant patients compared with other solid organ transplant recipients. This article is a review of the main neurologic complications after solid organ transplantation.