Neurologic Complications of Bone Marrow, Stem Cell, and Organ Transplantation in Patients With Cancer

Bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation are part of the standard of care for a variety of oncologic and non-oncologic disorders and are associated with a large spectrum of neurologic complications. These complications may arise at any time during and after the transplantation process, especially in subjects requiring chronic immunosuppression, and are most frequently related to infections, cerebrovascular or metabolic events, and toxicity from radiation or chemotherapy. Due to the unique circumstances and treatments surrounding each step in the transplantation process, there is a higher incidence of some neurologic complications during discrete time periods. Being aware of the temporal relationship of the neurologic disorder within the transplantation process can therefore facilitate diagnosis and institution of appropriate therapy. Neurologic complications after solid organ transplantation are often due to similar mechanisms as in patients after bone marrow and stem cell transplantation although there are several complications unique to these patients such as transmission of infectious agents by the donated organ. For these patients, the clinician needs to have a high index of suspicion that the neurologic problem is related to the transplant.