title: Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis (BBE) in childhood: rapid resolution after intravenous immunoglobulins treatment.
abstract: Three young patients with Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis (BBE) are reported. Some weeks following an upper tract infection, the children after a short period of recovery, showed acute onset of symmetric weakness of the lower limbs with difficulty in standing by and walking. The distal muscle weakness had a rapid progression with involvement of the cranial nerve, and then with severe impairment of the consciousness till to coma in one of the three children. BBE is a rare and often underdiagnosed affection in childhood. Common neuro-immune pathogenesis, overlap of clinical signs and strict correlation among BBE with Fisher syndrome and Guillain-Barrè syndrome lead to think that these affections represent an unique spectrum with different central and peripheral involvement. In these children, treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins resulted in a progressive and rapid resolution of the clinical features.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency, University Hospital, "Vittorio Emanuele Polyclinic", Catania, Italy. ppavone@unict.it.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le Pira
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Greco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vitaliti
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Smilari
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Falsaperla
mesh_terms: D001933:Brain Stem / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous