Severe ataxia as a complication of human parvovirus B19 acute encephalitis in a child.

Abstract

Human parvovirus B19 generally causes erythema infectiosum in childhood, but it can be associated with unusual findings, particularly in immunocompromised patients. This is a report about an immunocompetent 4-year-old female child affected with acute encephalitis by parvovirus B19, documented by polymerase chain reaction performed on cerebrospinal fluid, who was treated with intravenous immunoglobulins and dexamethasone and who developed a cerebellar syndrome with ataxia, dysmetria, and dysarthria. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this may be the first report of human parvovirus B19 encephalitis complicated by severe ataxia in childhood.

• Authors: Filippo Greco, Maria Luisa Barbagallo, Danilo Castellano Chiodo, Rosanna Guglielmino, Giovanni Sorge
• Journal: Journal of child neurology (J Child Neurol) Vol. 23 Issue 9 Pg. 1078-80 (Sep 2008) ISSN: 1708-8283 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 18487517 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents
• Immunoglobulins, Intravenous
• RNA, Viral
• Dexamethasone

Topics

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents (therapeutic use)
• Ataxia (physiopathology, virology)
• Cerebellar Ataxia (physiopathology, virology)
• Cerebellum (physiopathology, virology)
• Child, Preschool
• Dexamethasone (therapeutic use)
• Disease Progression
• Encephalitis, Viral (complications, drug therapy, virology)
• Female
• Humans
• Immunoglobulins, Intravenous (therapeutic use)
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Occipital Lobe (pathology, physiopathology, virology)
• Parietal Lobe (pathology, physiopathology, virology)
• Parvoviridae Infections (complications, drug therapy, virology)
• Parvovirus B19, Human (drug effects, immunology)
• RNA, Viral (genetics, isolation & purification)
• Treatment Failure