title: Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood: a fatal complication of swine flu.
abstract: Acute necrotizing encephalopathy of childhood (ANEC) is a rare condition characterized by the presence of multifocal symmetrical brain lesions involving mainly thalami, brainstem, cerebellum and white matter. ANEC is a serious and life threatening complication of simple viral infections. We present a case of a young child who developed this condition with classical clinical and radiological findings consistent with ANEC, secondary to swine flu (H1N1). He needed ventilatory support and had profound motor and intellectual deficit on discharge. We report this case with aim of raising awareness about this fatal complication of swine flu which has become a global health care issue these days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. rehan.khan@aku.edu
authors.forename: Muhammad Rehan
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Prem Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Maheshwari
authors.forename: Syed Asad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.lastname: Anwarul Haque
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D004684:Leukoencephalitis, Acute Hemorrhagic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male