title: [Neurological complications in patients receiving solid organ transplants].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurological complications (NC) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric patients receiving solid organ transplants. Our aim was to describe the experience of our hospital with NC in paediatric patients receiving heart, lung and liver transplants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was conducted on 140 paediatric patients who received a solid organ transplant during the period 2000-2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 23 paediatric solid organ transplant recipients (16.4% of cases), with a median age of 6 years, had NC. The symptoms were, in order of frequency: acute symptomatic seizures (12 patients); acute encephalopathy (11 patients); neuromuscular weakness (4 children), tremor (4 children), headache (2 children), neuropathic pain (2 children), and visual disturbances (2 children). The aetiologies of NC were: the neurotoxicity of the immunosuppressive drugs (12 patients), post-hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (6 patients), infections (2 cases), mechanical compression of peripheral nerve during surgery (2 cases), and a metabolic complication (1 case). The five patients who met the criteria of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome had a favourable outcome. Seven patients died, four of them due to hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NC are common in paediatric patients receiving heart, liver, lung, and renal transplants, with acute symptomatic seizures and acute encephalopathy being the most common clinical signs. No differences were found in the NC with the different types of transplants. Neurotoxicity of the immunosuppressive drugs and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy were the main causes of NC, having different management and outcomes. The prognosis was favourable in most of the patients, except for those who had moderate or severe post-hypoxic-ischaemic damage.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neurología Pediátrica, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba, España. jafdezramos@gmail.com
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fernández-Ramos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López-Laso
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ordóñez-Díaz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Camino-León
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ibarra-de la Rosa
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Frías-Pérez
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gilbert-Pérez
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pérez-Navero
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies