title: Cerebral pathology post heart transplantation.
abstract: Cerebral pathology is frequently encountered post heart transplantation with a cumulative incidence of about 80% after 15 years. A broad spectrum of disease entities is reported, from minor abnormalities to life-threatening diseases. Although cerebral infections and malignancies are rare in this patient population, they have a high mortality rate. Since 1991, 171 orthotopic heart transplantations were performed at the Ghent University Hospital with a 10-year survival rate of 75%. Severe cerebral complications occurred in 10 patients, with epilepsy in 2 patients, cerebrovascular accidents in 4 patients, cerebral infections in 3 patients and a cerebral malignancy in 1 patient, resulting in a fatal outcome in 7 patients. We present four of these cases.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Peteghem
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Pauw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016027:Heart Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Cerebral infection,; Heart transplantation,; Mortality,; Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder