A Case of Brainstem Encephalitis Associated with Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.

Oh,  Myung Jin; Lim,  Soo Jung; Kim,  Young Joo; Eom,  Tae Hoon; Lee,  Hyun Seung; Jang,  Pil Sang; Kim,  Young Hoon

Case Report

Journal of the Korean Child Neurology Society 2011;19(3):277-282.
Published online December 30, 2011.

A Case of Brainstem Encephalitis Associated with Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.

Myung Jin Oh, Soo Jung Lim, Young Joo Kim, Tae Hoon Eom, Hyun Seung Lee, Pil Sang Jang, Young Hoon Kim

¹Department of Pediatrics, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. iamlidia@catholic.ac.kr
²Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

A case of brainstem encephalitis associated with a reactivated infection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a 7-year-old boy is reported. The patient was diagnosed based on the compatible clinical, cerebrospinal fluid and radiological findings and the serological results for EBV, had a favorable clinical course and showed a discrepancy between the course of the neurological features and the evolution of the imaging alterations. The apparent diffusion coefficient imaging revealed the brain stem lesion suggesting an autoimmune mechanism in the pathogenesis of the illness.

Key Words: Epstein-Barr virus, Brainstem encephalitis