Psychiatric morbidity in liver transplant patients.
The psychiatric care of patients with organ transplants is a rapidly growing area. Morbidity and mortality of transplantation are directly related to a number of factors including organ rejection and adverse complications of medications. FK 506, a promising new immunosuppressive drug, appears to significantly reduce the rate of rejection. During our center's several years of experience using FK 506, its side effect profile is being clarified. However, the psychiatric morbidity associated with FK 506 and the more traditionally used cyclosporine (CyA) has not been compared in any systematized fashion. Cognitive and psychiatric symptoms (eg, delirium, depression, insomnia, perceptual disturbances) may be important factors in the eventual outcome of these patients in that these symptoms may significantly impair their ability to comply with treatment regimens and interfere with their recovery.