Published in:
01-10-2020 | Herpes Virus | Case Report
Disseminated cortical and subcortical lesions in neonatal enterovirus 71 encephalitis
Authors:
Ryoko Nakamura, Pin Fee Chong, Kohei Haraguchi, Harutaka Katano, Keiko Tanaka-Taya, Ryutaro Kira
Published in:
Journal of NeuroVirology
|
Issue 5/2020
Login to get access
Abstract
Enteroviruses are one of the most important causes of viral encephalitis in the neonatal period. However, the non-specificity of the symptoms presented renders its diagnosis challenging. Intracranial MRI has been reported to be a very useful imaging modality that can detect the characteristic white matter lesions around the periventricular regions. In this study, we report a case of a patient with neonatal encephalitis who presented with normal white blood cell counts in the initial cerebrospinal fluid analysis. A lumbar puncture retap identified pleocytosis, and polymerase chain reaction assays detected enterovirus 71 in the blood and stool samples. Furthermore, MRI revealed atypical disseminated cortical and subcortical white matter lesions on diffusion weighted images, and neuroradiological re-evaluation showed necrotic changes 2 weeks later. This unique case expands our knowledge of the spectrum of neurological disorders due to enterovirus 71 infection in neonatal period.