Immunosuppressive Drugs, an Emerging Cause of Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome: Case Series

A broad spectrum of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome - a case series with clinical and paraclinical characterisation, and histopathological findings

Background

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is clinical-neuroradiologically defined and potentially reversible, so there are limited data about histopathological findings. We aimed to describe the clinical and paraclinical features of patients with PRES with regard to its reversibility.

Methods

This retrospective case series encompasses 15 PRES cases out of 1300 evaluated patients from a single German center between January 1, 2010, and June 15, 2020. PRES was established according to the diagnostic criteria as proposed by the Berlin PRES Study 2012. One of the cases studied was subject to brain autopsy.

Results

From the 15 patients studied (median age 53 years, range 17–73; 11 female), 67 % presented with epileptic seizures, 40 % suffered from encephalopathy with reduced consciousness and 53 % developed delirium, while 47 % had headache and visual disturbances. Subcortical brain MRI abnormalities related to PRES were observed in all patients. One patient developed spinal ischemia and another Guillain-Barré syndrome in addition to PRES. Hypertensive blood pressure was the main underlying/trigger condition in all patients. Clinical symptoms and MRI changes were not reversible in 42 %, even progressive in 3 out of these 5 patients. Median time from symptom onset to diagnosis in these non-reversible cases was 7 days (range 0–13), while the median delay in diagnosis in the reversible group was 1 day (range 0–3). Cerebellar/brain stem involvement and status epilepticus were more frequently in patients with non-reversible disease course. Mortality due to PRES occurred in 13 % of these patients. Neuropathological examination of the brain of a 57-year-old female patient revealed major leukencephalopathic changes, fibrinoid necrosis of endothelial cells and fresh petechial hemorrhages in accordance with PRES.

Conclusions

Our case series demonstrates that PRES was not reversible in 42 % of the studied patients. Delay in diagnosis seems to contribute to limited reversibility and poor outcome.

Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Associated with Tacrolimus in Cardiac Transplantation

Background

Neurological complications occur between 50 and 70% of patients with heart transplantation, including cerebrovascular events, infections, seizures, encephalopathy, and neurotoxicity due to pharmacological immunosuppression. Mortality associated with cerebrovascular complications is 7.5% in the first 30 days and up to 5.3% after the first month and up to the first year after transplantation. Case Reports. Three heart-transplanted patients (2 men and 1 woman) treated with tacrolimus were identified. They presented with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome on days 5, 6, and 58 posttransplantation, respectively. In these reported cases, no sequelae were observed at 6 months follow-up.

Conclusions

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome as a neurological complication in patients with HT occurred early after the procedure. Early diagnosis and treatment might reduce the risk of serious complications and mortality.

Childhood Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome: Clinicoradiological Characteristics, Managements, and Outcome

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a novel clinicoradiological syndrome characterized by convulsions, headache, altered mentality, and impaired vision, which are usually accompanied by hypertension. As its nomination, PRES is usually diagnosed according to the presence of typical neuroimage showing vasogenic edema predominately involving the posterior brain area. With the widespread utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), PRES is becoming more perceptible in different medical fields. Compared to adult cases, childhood PRES seems to have a broader clinical and neuroradiological spectrum. PRES can be associated with various underlying comorbidities, medication use, and therapeutic modalities in children with diverse neurological manifestations. Moreover, pediatric patients with PRES have a more significant propensity for atypical MRI findings beyond the typically posterior cerebral areas. The knowledge of typical and atypical presentations in children is essential to avoid misdiagnosing or missing PRES, which is a potentially treatable entity. Early supportive care is the mainstay of treatment, with particular attention to the treatment of hypertension with rigorous attention to all body systems. Prompt identification and symptom-directed management are imperative to achieve a reversible prognosis in childhood PRES. Future studies specially designed for the child population are required to determine potential outcome predictors, and further, to develop novel strategies of neuroprotection in childhood PRES.

Childhood Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome: Clinicoradiological Characteristics, Managements, and Outcome

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a novel clinicoradiological syndrome characterized by convulsions, headache, altered mentality, and impaired vision, which are usually accompanied by hypertension. As its nomination, PRES is usually diagnosed according to the presence of typical neuroimage showing vasogenic edema predominately involving the posterior brain area. With the widespread utilization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), PRES is becoming more perceptible in different medical fields. Compared to adult cases, childhood PRES seems to have a broader clinical and neuroradiological spectrum. PRES can be associated with various underlying comorbidities, medication use, and therapeutic modalities in children with diverse neurological manifestations. Moreover, pediatric patients with PRES have a more significant propensity for atypical MRI findings beyond the typically posterior cerebral areas. The knowledge of typical and atypical presentations in children is essential to avoid misdiagnosing or missing PRES, which is a potentially treatable entity. Early supportive care is the mainstay of treatment, with particular attention to the treatment of hypertension with rigorous attention to all body systems. Prompt identification and symptom-directed management are imperative to achieve a reversible prognosis in childhood PRES. Future studies specially designed for the child population are required to determine potential outcome predictors, and further, to develop novel strategies of neuroprotection in childhood PRES.

Severe hypertension is an independent risk factor for posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome post-hematopoietic cell transplantation in children with thalassemia major

BACKGROUND

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is an increasingly recognized serious complication of cyclosporine A (CSA) and tacrolimus (TAC) use in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) recipients.

PROCEDURE

A retrospective study was carried out, including 84 cases of HCT for TM from January 2012 to January 2017. Eleven cases were diagnosed with PRES.

RESULTS

The cumulative incidence of PRES was 13.4% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.7%-17.2%). The median onset time of the symptoms was 63 [20, 143] days after transplantation. Lumber puncture found that CSF was normal. Univariate analysis showed that patients who received methylprednisolone (MP) (OR = 10.629 95% CI, 1.360-83.071, P = 0.024), female patients (OR = 4.275, 95% CI, 1.154-15.843, P = 0.032), patients who had severe hypertension (OR = 5.162, 95% CI, 1.042 to 25.559, P = 0.029) had significantly higher risks of PRES. Multivariate analysis showed that severe hypertension (hazard ratio [HR], 12.793; 95% CI, 1.477 to 110.813; P  = 0.021), and Pesaro class 3 (HR, 3.367; 95% CI, 1.210 to 9.368; P  =  0.020) were associated with PRES.

CONCLUSIONS

The severe hypertension is an independent risk factor for PRES post-HCT in children with thalassemia major. Patients of Pesaro class 3 may benefit from optimum control of blood pressure post-HCT for prophylaxis of PRES.

Controversy of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: what have we learnt in the last 20 years?

Over two decades have passed since posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) was first described in 1996. It has becoming increasingly recognised because of improved and more readily available imaging modality. The exact pathophysiological mechanism is not completely understood and remains controversial at present. Precise diagnosis is essential to guide prompt, proper management. Our ability of differentiating it from other acute neurological disorders is likely to improve as we learnt more about the spectrum of this entity in the last 20 years. We emphasise the importance of recognising its diagnostic criteria and biomarker, which would be of great relevance to either outcome evaluation or study design. PRES has a favourable prognosis generally, but neurological sequelae and even fatalities can occur, especially in severe forms that might cause substantial morbidity and even mortality, particularly when the syndrome is complicated by intracranial haemorrhage or brain infarction. In this review, the pathophysiology, approach to diagnosis, some controversies as to the prognosis, as well as the future research direction of PRES are described.

Overview of Immunosuppressive Therapy in Solid Organ Transplantation

Mechanisms of rejection, new pharmacologic approaches, and genomic medicine are major foci for current research in transplantation. It is hoped that these new agents and personalized immunosuppression will provide for less toxic regimens that are effective in preventing both acute and chronic allograft rejection. Until new agents are available, practitioners must use various combinations of currently approved agents to find the best regimens for improved long-term outcomes.

Special considerations for the use of lung transplantation in pediatrics

Lung transplantation has become an accepted therapy in infants, children and adolescents suffering from end-stage lung diseases, an impaired quality of life as well as a reduced life expectancy. Within Europe, pediatric lung transplantation is largely performed in predominantly adult centers due to a relatively low overall case volume. Children do represent a specific and challenging cohort facing a transplant procedure, where the selection of potential candidates becomes a crucial step to maximize net survival benefit. Therefore, interdisciplinary evaluation and early listing in view of current indications and contraindications, adequate preoperative education of the child and family members, discussion of possibly required bridging procedures in case of deterioration, appropriate technical planning of the operation, adherence to postoperative medical treatment and follow-up are all crucial steps in this demanding puzzle. In this article, the authors review recent advances in the field of pediatric lung transplantation and outline challenges in the future.

Calcineurin Inhibitors Associated Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome in Solid Organ Transplantation: Report of 2 Cases and Literature Review

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a rare neurologic side effect of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) with poorly understood clinical features.We report cases of 2 patients with PRES developing after kidney transplantation and summarize PRES clinical features through a literature review.The 1st case was a 28-year-old man who received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. Initial immunosuppressive therapy consisted of tacrolimus/mycophenolate mofetil/prednisolone. He developed headache and blurred vision with visual field loss15 days after transplantation and generalized seizures 4 days later. The 2nd case was a 34-year-old man who received a living kidney transplant. His initial immunosuppressive therapy comprised tacrolimus/mycophenolate mofetil/prednisolone. Two months after transplantation, he developed seizures. Both patients were diagnosed with PRES based on neurological symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings; they recovered after switching from tacrolimus to either a cyclosporine or a lower tacrolimus dose. CNI-associated PRES is an acute neurological syndrome with seizures, encephalopathy, visual abnormalities, headache, focal neurological deficits, and nausea/vomiting. It is always accompanied by hypertension. A fluid-attenuated inversion recovery signal MRI scan typically shows reversible subcortical white matter changes in the posterior cerebral hemisphere that usually occur within the 1st month after transplantation. CNI-associated PRES has a generally favorable prognosis with early diagnosis and prompt treatment including alternating or discontinuing CNIs and blood pressure control.CNI-associated PRES should be considered in patients exhibiting acute neurological symptoms after transplantation. Early diagnosis and immediate treatment are critical for a favorable prognosis.