Short communication, Note
Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis – The Continuing Threat
Tatjana Vilibić Čavlek
Sunčanica Ljubin Sternak
Kamelija Žarković
Branka Marušić Della Marina
Ljerka Cvitanović Šojat
Anica Bašnec
Bernard Kaić
Branko Turković
Gordana Mlinarić Galinović
Abstract
Clinical, epidemiological and laboratory findings of four patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE),
diagnosed in Croatia in 2002, were examined. Patient age at disease onset ranged from 5–11 years. All patients were vaccinated
regularly with MMR-vaccine. Two patients had a history of measles infection at the age of six and seven months,
respectively. In the other two patients, the disease started immediately after the varicella infection. Complement fixing
antibody titre to the measles virus (MV) ranged from 1:1024 to 1:65536 in serum, and from 1:16 to 1:128 in cerebrospinal
fluid (CSF). In CSF, no antibodies to varicella-zoster virus were found. Brain tissue samples were obtained at autopsy
from two patients. In one patient, electron microscopy demonstrated intranuclear viral inclusions (MV nucleocapsids).
MV antigen was detected in brain imprints using IFA in both of them. Viral RNA was found in brain tissue samples only,
while plasma, serum and CSF were negative. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed that the viruses detected in brain tissue
belong to the wild-type MV D6 genotype14.
Keywords
subacute sclerosing panencephalitis; measles; MMR
Hrčak ID:
27689
URI
Publication date:
13.12.2006.
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