Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 9/28/2009

Question
My father is showing symptoms of dementia.  We are now in the process of finding the cause.  He is a heart transplant patient of ten years.  Two years ago during his regular yearly biopsy (previous biopsies were done through the neck and this particular one was done through the groin)he had a psychosis episode after the procedure.  My mother insists that the drugs (Versed and Fentanyl she says) he was given for the procedure caused his current condition. Is it possible for long term effects like this to occur?  Is it true that transplant patients that had renal failure after transplant cannot have these drugs and what would be the effects if that is the case and the drugs were given to him?
Thank you.

Answer
It is unlikely that Versed and Fentanyl caused these problems. They are relative short acting and have no long term side effects. It is also NOT true that you can't give these drugs to renal failure patients. We do it all the time. As with all drugs we take into account where the drug is cleared (liver or kidney) and dose the drugs accordingly.


Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston