Bilateral middle cerebral artery infarctions following mild varicella infection: a case report

Brain Dev. 2009 Jan;31(1):86-9. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2008.08.004. Epub 2008 Sep 14.

Abstract

We report a two-year and one-month-old immunocompetent boy who developed aphasia and right hemiparesis eight months after mild varicella with only a few vesicles. Magnetic resonance images and angiography demonstrated mixed acute and old infarctions of the bilateral middle cerebral arteries. VZV-DNA was detected on polymerase chain reaction analysis of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). He was treated with intravenous acyclovir and edaravone, and his speech and motor functions had almost recovered after two months. Cerebral lesions of the bilateral middle cerebral artery territories and virus DNA detection from CSF are rare in VZV-related vasculopathy and suggest incomplete immunoresponse to varicella in this patient.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Acyclovir / therapeutic use
  • Antipyrine / analogs & derivatives
  • Antipyrine / therapeutic use
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
  • Chickenpox / complications*
  • Chickenpox / diagnosis
  • Chickenpox / drug therapy
  • Child, Preschool
  • DNA, Viral / cerebrospinal fluid
  • DNA, Viral / genetics
  • Edaravone
  • Herpesvirus 3, Human / drug effects
  • Herpesvirus 3, Human / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / drug therapy
  • Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / etiology
  • Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / pathology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Angiography
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • DNA, Viral
  • Edaravone
  • Antipyrine
  • Acyclovir