Central Nervous System Infectious Complications Early After Liver Transplantation

Infectious complications contribute to significant patient morbidity and mortality in orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) recipients. Early central nervous system (CNS) involvement (within the first month after OLT) by infectious disease is essentially set off by aggressive surgical procedures, severe morbid conditions of the pretransplant period, initial graft dysfunction, permanence of intravascular cathethers, and prolonged mechanical ventilation. The type and severity of CNS infection may be determined by many factors, such as posttransplant adverse events; prolonged or repeated surgery with massive intraoperative transfusions, net state of immunosuppression, recurrence of infections by immunomodulating viruses, and retransplantation. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi can spread to the CNS just as they affect the abdomen, blood stream, respiratory tract, urine, drainages, etc. Because immunosuppressive drugs may modify the clinical presentation of CNS infections, it is very important to maintain vigilance and attend to minor neurologic symptoms. Special attention should therefore be given to cerebral investigation in patients with prolonged pulmonary contamination, unresponsive fever, and heavy corticosteroid therapy, primarily when they became disoriented, develop seizures, or exhibit focal neurologic signs. Clinical response to medical therapy may sometimes be poor because of chronic encapsulation of the pathogen, development of resistance, and/or catastrophic hemorrhagic complications.