The incidence of malignancy in solid organ transplant recipients is higher compared to general population. The aim of this study was to characterise distrubution and appearance of abdominal malign tumors detected with spiral computed tomography examination in patient with solid organ transplantation.
Methods: Between July 1994 to April 2006 198 patients underwent liver transplantation and 568 patient underwent renal transplantation in our center. We retrospectively studied abdominal CT examinations of them for presence of any abdominal malignancy. The abdominal CT examinations were performed prior to immunomodulation or chemotherapy.
Results: 11 patients with renal transplantation and one patient with liver transplantation developed abdominal malignancy. In 11 patients with renal transplantation, eight of them were diagnosed as Kaposi sarcoma and three of them were diagnosed as posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD). In two patient transplanted organ itself had malign tumors, one patient had PTLD with Burkitt lymphoma type in transplanted liver and the other patient had renal cell carcinoma in transplanted kidney. In abdominal PTLD and Kaposi sarcoma the imaging findings and site of organ involvement was somewhat different. The most common pathologies in Kaposi sarcoma were liver lesions (n=6) and lymphadenopathy (n=6). But in abdominal PTLD the organ mostly involved was spleen (n=3). Conclusions: The early diagnosis of abdominal malignancies after transplantation is crucial for patient’s prognosis especially under immunosupression. The abdominal spiral CT examination is effective modality in depicting the malignancy in patients with solid organ transplantation.