Mild rhabdomyolysis after renal transplantation

Abstract

We present a kidney transplantation patient who developed rhabdomyolysis. The patient was initially immunosuppressed with tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, steroids, and chimeric CD25 monoclonal antibody. He complained of severe precordial and appendicular pain on 25th day after the operation. The patient developed rhabdomyolysis manifested as a rise in serum creatine phosphkinase (CPK) and elevation of urinary myoglobulin at approximately the same time as his symptoms. Although he was switched from tacrolimus to cyclosporine (CYA), his muscle pain and levels of serum CPK did not improve. However, dividing the daily total amount of the calcinuerin inhibitors into more frequent doses in order to reach lower serum levels resolved the rhabdomyolysis. Therefore, we conclude that his rhabdomyolysis might be a dose-related problem of calcineurin inhibitor.