Herpes simplex encephalitis Viral encephalitis is a serious neurological disorder associated with relatively poor outcome. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis is the most common causative agent for viral encephalitis. More than 95% of HSV encephalitis is caused by HSV type 1. HSV 1 is transmitted primarily via saliva which subsequently enters the oral mucosa and spreads…
The scans shown are from two immunocompromised patients who presented with high fever and recurrent seizures. The contrast cranial CT of the first patient shows that the patient had a rim-enhancing lesion at the left basal ganglia (Figure 1). A set of cranial MRIs of the second patient also showed multiple contrast enhancing lesions in the…
The set of cranial MRI (coronal cuts) shown here are from a patient presenting with fever and confusion. Multiple, ring-enhancing nodular lesions are noted in the FLAIR sequence (Figures 1 and 2) as well as in the T1W imaging with contrast (Figures 3 and 4). Serology was positive for toxoplasma and the patient was tested…
Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (CJD) are prion diseases and can be subdivided into sporadic (account for 85% of cases), genetic (15% of cases) and acquired forms (<1% cases). CJD is rare with an incidence of 1-1.5 per million population per year with a peak age of onset of 55-75years. It is a common cause of rapidly progressive dementia. However, other symptoms including myoclonus, visual or…
A. Clinical Manifestations The classic triad of fever, headache and meningeal irritation (neck stiffness) sometimes do not occur altogether. Occasionally, patients may also have altered sensorium. Meningitis can be classified into acute, subacute, and chronic meningitis. Acute meningitis is characterized by onset of symptoms over the course of hours to up to several days. Subacute…