Neurologic Complications after Liver Transplantation: Are African Americans Disadvantaged?

Introduction: African Americans are frequently disadvantaged as recipients of liver transplantation. Outcomes in this same cohort have been identified as inferior to their Caucasian counterparts. This study examines the incidence of post transplant neurologic complications in African Americans. Methods: Retrospective analysis of neurologic complications after liver transplantation performed from ‘09 to ‘14 maintained on tacrolimus based immunosuppression. All patient charts were reviewed for neurologic complications including post transplant encephalopathy, altered mental status, seizures, intracranial bleeds and meningitis. Results: Of 165 liver transplant recipients, 30 (18%) were African American with a minority of recipients being Hispanic (2.4%) and Asian (1.8%). 25 neurologic complications were identified including: post transplant encephalopathy, altered mental status, seizures, intracranial bleeds and meningitis.Table: No Caption available.Conclusions: In a single center cohort, African Americans appear to have a higher incidence of neurologic complications post transplant. The small number of African Americans transplanted in the United States may have previously limited the ability to identify this association. Multicenter studies are required to further analyze these phenomena to develop a treatment algorithm.