Complications of Solid Organ Transplantation: Cardiovascular, Neurologic, Renal, and Gastrointestinal

Abstract

Despite improvements in overall graft function and patient survival rates after solid organ transplantation, complications can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Cardiovascular complications include heart failure, arrhythmias leading to sudden death, hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, and allograft vasculopathy in heart transplantation. Neurologic complications include stroke, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, infections, neuromuscular disease, seizure disorders, and neoplastic disease. Acute kidney injury occurs from immunosuppression with calcineurin inhibitors or as a result of graft failure after kidney transplantation. Gastrointestinal complications include infections, malignancy, mucosal ulceration, perforation, biliary tract disease, pancreatitis, and diverticular disease. Immunosuppression can predispose to infections and malignancy.

Keywords: Acute kidney injury; Calcineurin inhibitors; Hypertension; New-onset diabetes mellitus after transplantation (NODAT); Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome; Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder; Solid organ transplant.