Seizures and blindness following intravenous pulse methylprednisolone in a renal transplant patient.

Seizures in renal transplant recipients may be due to a variety of causes. Although intravenous pulse methylprednisolone used to treat acute rejection episodes has been reported to be associated with acute central nervous system (CNS) manifestations in adult renal transplant patients, this complication has not previously been described in pediatric patients. We report a 12 year old renal transplant recipient who developed transient blindness and focal seizures 72 hours following intravenous pulse methylprednisolone. Serum creatinine and urea nitrogen were 1.5 and 31 mg/dl respectively; serum electrolytes, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and glucose were normal. Although usually due to other etiologies, seizures in the pediatric transplant recipient may be secondary to acute CNS toxicity resulting from intravenous glucocorticoid infusion.