1/4. Fatal human herpesvirus 6-associated multifocal meningoencephalitis in an adult female patient.Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV 6) is a known cause of central nervous system infection in immunocompromised patients. Less is known about the clinical course of HHV 6 encephalitis in immunocompetent patients. We report a case of meningoencephalitis in a 42-y-old immunocompetent patient associated with HHV 6 infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herpesvirus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/4. Human herpes virus 6 encephalitis in allopurinol-induced hypersensitivity syndrome.hypersensitivity syndrome is one of the most severe forms of drug eruption, and is characterized by a severe, potentially lethal, multiorgan involvement. Recently, reactivation of human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been suggested to be involved in this syndrome, although the exact role of HHV-6 remains elusive. In addition to exanthem subitum, neurological illnesses, such as infantile febrile illness without rash and encephalitis in immunocompromised patients have been attributed to HHV-6. A 51-year-old man developed a generalized erythematous eruption during treatment with allopurinol. prednisolone improved his condition, but after the dose of prednisolone was reduced neurological abnormalities such as mental deterioration and positive meningeal signs developed. HHV-6 dna in his blood by PCR analysis was positive. Furthermore, we detected HHV-6 dna in the cerebrospinal fluid. The titers of anti-HHV-6-IgG increased during the course. His neurological symptoms gradually improved and no neurological sequelae were noted. Neurological abnormalities associated with hypersensitivity syndrome are very rare. However, the detection of HHV-6 dna in the cerebrospinal fluid strongly indicates an involvement of reactivated HHV-6 in encephalitis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.2keywords = herpesvirus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/4. Acute necrotizing encephalopathy associated with human herpesvirus-6 infection.An extremely rare case of acute necrotizing encephalopathy caused by human herpesvirus-6 variant type B infection is reported. The patient, a 14-month-old previously healthy female, presented with high fever and generalized tonic convulsion followed by rapid deterioration of consciousness. On the second day of the illness, the protein level of the cerebrospinal fluid increased without pleocytosis. On the third day, magnetic resonance images demonstrated symmetric, abnormal signal intensity lesions in the bilateral thalamus, cerebellum, and brainstem. On the fourth day, characteristic maculopapular rash of exanthema subitum appeared on the trunk. Human herpesvirus-6 deoxyribonucleic acid was detected by the polymerase chain reaction in the serum, and immunoglobulin g and immunoglobulin m of serum human herpesvirus-6 were positive. On the twelfth day of illness, the patient died as a result of severe brain damage. Acute necrotizing encephalopathy should be included in the differential diagnosis when examining infants and young children with fulminating consciousness disturbance and intractable convulsion. In addition, as a causative virus, human herpesvirus-6 has to be considered at the pre-eruptive stage of exanthema subitum. Magnetic resonance images are useful because they reveal the characteristic distribution of lesions specific to acute necrotizing encephalopathy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.6keywords = herpesvirus (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/4. Steroid therapy in an infant with human herpesvirus 6 encephalopathy.We describe a 10-month-old girl who developed convulsive status during febrile illness. Human herpesvirus 6 dna was detected in both the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid by polymerase chain reaction. interleukin-6 was increased in the serum. The patient improved after a commencement of steroids pulse therapy. This case suggests that proinflammatory cytokines are responsible for the pathogenesis of the encephalopathy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = herpesvirus (Clic here for more details about this article) |