Central nervous system and renal vasculitis associated with primary varicella infection in a child.
A 7-year-old girl with primary varicella presented with encephalopathy and focal neurologic deficits 10 days after her first skin lesions appeared. She was discovered to have bilateral wedge-shaped renal infarctions, and ischemic lesions in the conus medullaris, cerebral cortex, and deep gray matter consistent with a medium and large vessel arteritis on magnetic resonance imaging. This complication has never before been reported in an immunocompetent child with primary varicella infection, and it represents a rare but serious complication of childhood chickenpox.
Caruso
J M
JM
Department of Neurology, Childrens National Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
Tung
G A
GA
Brown
W D
WD
D001167:Arteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007238:Infarction / Q000209:etiology*; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D007668:Kidney / Q000098:blood supply*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000209:etiology; D020293:Vasculitis, Central Nervous System / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*