Risk factors for central pontine and extrapontine myelinolysis following orthotopic liver transplantation.
BACKGROUND
Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM)/extrapontine myelinolysis (EPM) is one of the most serious neurological complications that can occur after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). We analyzed the risk factors for CPM/EPM in OLT patients.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1,247 patients who underwent OLT between 1992 and 2005. We compared demographic, clinical and biological parameters of patients with CPM/EPM with those of age-, sex- and operation date-matched patients without CPM/EPM (controls).


RESULTS
Of 1,247 patients, 11 (0.88%) were diagnosed with CPM/EPM based on neuroimaging findings. A higher Model for End-Stage Liver Disease-Na score, preoperative hyponatremia and hypocholesterolemia, as well as greater changes in electrolytes, especially sodium, during surgery, were observed in the CPM/EPM group (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
CPM/EPM after OLT is more likely to occur in patients with more severe preoperative liver dysfunction and greater changes in electrolyte imbalance, especially sodium, during surgery.
Department of Neurology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Eun Mi
EM
Lee
Joong Koo
JK
Kang
Sung-Cheol
SC
Yun
Ki-Hun
KH
Kim
Sang Joon
SJ
Kim
Kyu-Sam
KS
Hwang
Sung-Gyu
SG
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007010:Hyponatremia / Q000150:complications; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D017590:Myelinolysis, Central Pontine / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric