[Neurological disorders and immunosuppression in kidney transplant patients. Preliminary study].

BACKGROUND

Neurological disorders in kidney transplant patients may be related to several factors, including high toxicity to the use of immunosuppressive drugs.

OBJECTIVE

To find out whether there was association between neurological complications and immunosuppression in a sample of patients who received renal transplantation.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study in which 121 renal transplant patients participated, of which 22 (18%) had neurological disorders, chi-squared test was used to analyze the relation between neurological disorders and comorbidity such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension and time of immunosuppressant use. A significance level of p <0.05 was accepted for all determinations.

RESULTS

Of the subjects studied, 13 were male (59%) and nine female (41%). The mean age of the patients included in the study was 33 ± 12 years. 59% of neurological disorders occurred between six months and five years after patients had received the transplant. Neurological alterations found were: tremor (7.4%), dizziness (4.1%), peripheral neuropathy (3.3%), headache (2.4%), and decreased strength (0.8%).

CONCLUSION

No statistically significant association was found between neurological disorders and immunosuppressant use, or between them and the duration of immunosuppression.