Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis with atypical clinical and MRI findings

Abstract

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a progressive inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system and a slow virus infection caused by aberrant measles virüs. Typical neurological manifestations include psychomotor impairment, progressive intellectual deterioration, myoclonic jerks and behavioral changes, with or without pyramidal symptoms. It usually affecting people aged 10 to 14 year. We report the case of an 17-year-old girl presenting with initial symptom of visual loss, seizures, a lack of SSPE specific EEG pattern, late onset and atypical fast progression of disease. The case highlights the importance of atypical clinical findings of SSPE at onset and also firstly disappearing, then appearing MRI findings at sequential images which can complicate the accurate diagnosis. High suspicion is needed because of its rareness. Copyright © 2012 TBDHD.