Tacrolimus and myocardial hypertrophy

Tacrolimus has been used as an immunosuppressive agent in the transplantati on of all solid organs. Tacrolimus-induced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has been reported to be an unusual but serious complication. To elucidate the e ffects of tacrolimus on myocardial hypertrophy, we studied the relationship between the blood levels of tacrolimus and cardiac wall thickening. Our fi ndings demonstrated that tacrolimus-induced myocardial hypertrophy correlat ed with tacrolimus blood levels, and that myocardial hypertrophy induced by tacrolimus was reversible. However, no patients developed clinically signi ficant symptoms related to myocardial hypertrophy.