Brainstem Lesions in Herpes Encephalitis

Herpes simplex encephalitis typically involves the medial temporal and inferior frontal lobes; brainstem lesions are very unusual. We present a 42-year-old woman admitted with delirium and diagnosed as herpes simplex encephalitis. The patient had gadolinium-enhancing inferior frontal and pontine les...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gülçin Benbir, Baki Göksan, Naci Koçer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Galenos Yayinevi 2010-12-01
Series:Türk Nöroloji Dergisi
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.tjn.org.tr/jvi.aspx?pdir=tjn&plng=eng&un=TJN-38278&look4=
Description
Summary:Herpes simplex encephalitis typically involves the medial temporal and inferior frontal lobes; brainstem lesions are very unusual. We present a 42-year-old woman admitted with delirium and diagnosed as herpes simplex encephalitis. The patient had gadolinium-enhancing inferior frontal and pontine lesions on magnetic resonance imagings. The patient was successfully treated without any neurologic sequelae, though contrast-enhancement was still present. This case report emphasizes that herpes simplex encephalitis should be investigated in the differential diagnosis of brainstem lesions. Moreover, contrast-enhancement may persist for some months even after clinical improvement.
ISSN:1301-062X