title: Sudden 'stroke-like' onset of hemiparesis due to herpetic encephalitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Herpes simplex encephalitis usually has a progressive cause. Sudden neurological deficits are unusual.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 17-year-old girl presented with an acute onset focal neurological deficit followed one week later by the more classical feature of altered level of consciousness, fever and focal seizures. The diagnosis of herpetic encephalitis was made by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and by the significant increase in cerebrospinal fluid titres of antibodies against herpes simplex type I.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Herpetic encephalitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute stroke in young patients even in the absence of encephalitic features, if common etiological factors such as embolization and intracerebral bleed are excluded.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: AbdulJabbar
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ghozi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haq
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D018792:Encephalitis, Viral / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000473:pathology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed