Combination therapy with intraventricular interferon-alpha and ribavirin for subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and monitoring measles virus RNA by quantitative PCR assay.
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| Abstract |
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that leads to death within a few years. Recently, it has been reported that combination therapy with intraparenchymal interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) and intraventricular ribavirin is effective. An 11-year-old SSPE patient whose clinical symptoms progressed rapidly, was treated first with intraventricular INF-alpha and then with combined intraventricular INF-alpha and ribavirin therapy. To monitor viral load over the course of the therapy, measles virus RNA was quantified using a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. Measles virus RNA decreased rapidly after the INF-alpha therapy was started, paralleling the decrease in the measles antibody titer in the cerebrospinal fluid and the improvement in the neurological disability. After intraventricular ribavirin was combined with INF-alpha therapy, no further improvement was observed. The neurological disability gradually progressed, although the amount of virus RNA remained low.
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| Authors | Shinya Hara, Hiroshi Kimura, Yo Hoshino, Naomi Hayashi, Tamiko Negoro, Akihisa Okumura, Yasuichi Kajita, Takashi Sakuma, Tetsuo Nakayama, Mitsuaki Hosoya, Akemi Tomoda, Tsuneo Morisima |
| Journal | Brain & development (Brain Dev) Vol. 25 Issue 5 Pg. 367-9 (Aug 2003) ISSN: 0387-7604 [Print] Netherlands |
| PMID | 12850518 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't) |
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