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. 2017 Mar 16;12(3):e0174092.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174092. eCollection 2017.

Influence of early neurological complications on clinical outcome following lung transplant

Josep Gamez  1 , Maria Salvado  1 , Alejandro Martinez-de La Ossa  2 , Maria Deu  3 , Laura Romero  3 , Antonio Roman  4 , Judith Sacanell  5 , Cesar Laborda  5 , Isabel Rochera  6 , Miriam Nadal  6 , Francesc Carmona  7 , Estevo Santamarina  1 , Nuria Raguer  2 , Merce Canela  3 , Joan Solé  3
Affiliations

Influence of early neurological complications on clinical outcome following lung transplant

Josep Gamez et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Neurological complications after lung transplantation are common. The full spectrum of neurological complications and their impact on clinical outcomes has not been extensively studied.

Methods: We investigated the neurological incidence of complications, categorized according to whether they affected the central, peripheral or autonomic nervous systems, in a series of 109 patients undergoing lung transplantation at our center between January 1 2013 and December 31 2014.

Results: Fifty-one patients (46.8%) presented at least one neurological complication. Critical illness polyneuropathy-myopathy (31 cases) and phrenic nerve injury (26 cases) were the two most prevalent complications. These two neuromuscular complications lengthened hospital stays by a median period of 35.5 and 32.5 days respectively. However, neurological complications did not affect patients' survival.

Conclusions: The real incidence of neurological complications among lung transplant recipients is probably underestimated. They usually appear in the first two months after surgery. Despite not affecting mortality, they do affect the mean length of hospital stay, and especially the time spent in the Intensive Care Unit. We found no risk factor for neurological complications except for long operating times, ischemic time and need for transfusion. It is necessary to develop programs for the prevention and early recognition of these complications, and the prevention of their precipitant and risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Effect of neurological complications on the Kaplan-Meier survival curve.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Post-transplant latencies (days) until appearance of neurological complications.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Effect of neurological complications on length of hospital stay.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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