[Transplant patient monitoring]

Abstract

Management of transplant recipients consists in a good balance between an optimal graft function and the potential toxic effects of immunosuppressive drugs. Indeed, transplant patient monitoring has to be very meticulous and includes repetitive clinical, biological and morphological tests. Acute or chronic graft dysfunctions should be identified very soon in order to confirm diagnosis by pathologic analyses and to adapt the immunosuppressive treatment. On the other hand, the complications occurring in transplant patients have to be diagnosed promptly to start an optimal treatment without delay. The main complications are: infectious (conventional infections in the first month and opportunist infections thereafter [CMV, pneumocystosis, toxoplasmosis, aspergillosis...]); cardio-vascular because of numerous cardio-vascular risk factors occurring after transplantation: hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes...; neoplasic with a major increase of lymphomas and cutaneous carcinomas incidences after transplantation. A good management of transplant recipient leads to a prompt treatment of the complications, an improvement in graft and patient' survivals and an increase in their quality of life.