title: Diagnostic dilemma-dengue or Japanese encephalitis?
abstract: Dengue and Japanese encephalitis (JE) are arboviral diseases that are common in the tropical countries. JE virus is a classical neurotropic virus. The dengue virus, however, is usually not considered to be neurotropic, even though in recent years, reports of direct central nervous system involvement in dengue has been described. Here, we report a case wherein the patient had magnetic resonance imaging evidence of bilateral thalamic and brainstem involvement with positive serologies for both dengue and JE. We also discuss the diagnostic challenge in these cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Kalaimani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sivamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Varun
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dhir
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Surjit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Aman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003715:Dengue / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000821:virology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004672:Encephalitis, Japanese / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013788:Thalamus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult