Detection of Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in Cerebrospinal Fluid of a Patient with Fatal Status Epilepticus.

Cho,  Sung Min; Song,  Jeong Sook; Kang,  Eun Kyeong

Case Report

Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society 2012;20(3):196-200.
Published online September 30, 2012.

Detection of Human Herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in Cerebrospinal Fluid of a Patient with Fatal Status Epilepticus.

Sung Min Cho, Jeong Sook Song, Eun Kyeong Kang

Department of Pediatrics, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea. smchoped@hotmail.com

Abstract

Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) often causes mild illnesses, but is rarely associated with encephalitis or other fatal neurological conditions. We report a girl who died of a intractable status epilepticus from HHV-6. A 14-month-old girl presented with focal motor seizures in right extremities evolving to generalized convulsive status epilepticus. She had a history of mild diarrhea for 4 days and high fever for 2 days. Although she was treated with lorazepam, phenytoin, phenobarbital, and continuous midazolam infusion, generalized seizures continued for 3 hours after arrival. She became seizure free, but remained unconscious and ended up to death at the 44 days of hospitalization. The CSF HHV-6 DNA PCR turned out to be positive.

Key Words: Human herpesvirus-6, Encephalitis, Status epilepticus, Brain death