Cerebral pathology post heart transplantation

Abstract

Cerebral pathology is frequently encountered post heart transplantation with a cumulative incidence of about 80% after 15 years. A broad spectrum of disease entities is reported, from minor abnormalities to life-threatening diseases. Although cerebral infections and malignancies are rare in this patient population, they have a high mortality rate. Since 1991, 171 orthotopic heart transplantations were performed at the Ghent University Hospital with a 10-year survival rate of 75%. Severe cerebral complications occurred in 10 patients, with epilepsy in 2 patients, cerebrovascular accidents in 4 patients, cerebral infections in 3 patients and a cerebral malignancy in 1 patient, resulting in a fatal outcome in 7 patients. We present four of these cases.

Keywords:

• Heart transplantation
• Mortality
• Cerebral infection
• Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder