title: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in an adolescent.
abstract: A 17-year-old boy presented with a severe form of an acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) with hemiparesis and coma after initial symptoms of a flu-like febrile infection 1 week previously. Titers against Mycoplasma pneumoniae were significantly increased in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Detection of M. pneumoniae was achieved in the initial CSF sample using M. pneumoniae-specific PCR. The patient improved significantly on antimicrobial therapy with erythromycin and immunosupressive therapy with immunoglobulins and corticosteroids. This case report demonstrates a well-documented course of a central nervous system (CNS) infection resulting in the ADEM syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, City Hospital Munich-Harlaching, Germany. Kristina.riedel@gmx.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Riedel
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kempf
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bechtold
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klimmer
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004673:Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012720:Severity of Illness Index