Subacute leukoencephalitis caused by CNS infection with human herpesvirus-6 manifesting as acute multiple sclerosis.
Several recent reports have documented the neuroinvasiveness of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) in infants with primary HHV-6 infections, in children and adults with AIDS, in recipients of bone marrow transplants, and in immunologically intact adults and children. CNS infections with HHV-6 can be subacute and are frequently associated with diffuse or multifocal demyelination. We analyzed the CNS tissues of a young woman who died of a demyelinative disease, which was clinically and histopathologically diagnosed as acute multiple sclerosis, for active HHV-6 infection by immunohistochemical staining. The tissues contained a dense and disseminated active HHV-6 infection that was intimately related to the pathologic changes present.
Carrigan
D R
DR
Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226, USA.
Harrington
D
D
Knox
K K
KK
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006566:Herpesviridae Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015654:Herpesvirus 6, Human; D006801:Humans; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications*