Glucocorticoids and hippocampal atrophy after heart transplantation

Abstract

The glucocorticoid cascade hypothesis proposes that hippocampal atrophy may result from excessive steroid exposure. Although demonstrated in animal models and some human hypercortisolemic states, hippocampal damage as a possible consequence of posttransplant steroid immunosuppression has not been investigated in human heart transplant recipients. We report a case of a 37-year-old female heart transplant recipient who had the clinical, neuropsychiatric, and neuroimaging findings consistent with hippocampal atrophy after 5 years of steroid exposure.