Immunosuppressive Therapy in Solid Organ Transplantation: Primer for Radiologists and Potential Complications

The availability of effective immunosuppressive medication is primarily responsible for the dramatic improvement in long-term graft survival rates after solid organ transplantation. The commonly used drugs include monoclonal/polyclonal antibodies, corticosteroids, calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine and tacrolimus), antimetabolites, mammalian target of rapamycin, and many novel drugs. Prolonged immunosuppression is accompanied by several well-described potentially life-threatening complications. In addition to drug-related side effects, recipients of solid organs are unavoidably at a higher risk for infections and malignancies. Select infections and malignancies in solid organ transplant patients have distinctive imaging findings, and radiologists play a crucial role in the timely diagnosis and management of these conditions.