Premium
Neurologic complications in adult living donor liver transplant recipients
Author(s) -
Kim BumSoo,
Lee SungGyu,
Hwang Shin,
Park KwangMin,
Kim KiHun,
Ahn ChulSoo,
Moon DeokBog,
Ha TaeYong,
Song GiWon,
Kim DongSik,
Moon KiMyung,
Jung DongHwan
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
clinical transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1399-0012
pISSN - 0902-0063
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-0012.2007.00687.x
Subject(s) - medicine , liver transplantation , intensive care medicine , transplantation , surgery
Background: Neurologic complications (NC) after liver transplantation are not uncommon, with serious complications such as central pontine myelinolysis (CPM), often causing disability. Objective: We investigated the incidence and features of NC following liver transplantation in adult recipients. Patients and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 319 adult patients who underwent liver transplantation between January 2004 and May 2005 at the Asan Medical Center. Results: Neurologic complications developed in 49 of 319 patients (15.4%). Although most of these complications were minor, including tremor and foot drop, three patients developed CPM, and one each developed posterior leukoencephalopathy, cerebral hemorrhage, and cerebral infarction. One‐yr survival rates were 95.9% in patients without NC and 83.7% in patients with NC (p = 0.004). Hospital stay was prolonged in patients with NC. Graft‐to‐recipient body weight ratio (GRWR) did not affect occurrence of NC. Conclusions: Neurologic complications were not uncommon in liver transplant recipients. These complications contributed to prolongation of hospital stay, increased in‐hospital mortality, and decreased graft and patient survival. Every effort should be made to prevent NC, as well as to detect and treat them as soon as possible.