Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) associated with congenital measles infection.

A 13-month-old male presented with repetitive episodes of myoclonic jerks of the head and extremities for two months. His past medical history revealed that his non-immunized mother had measles at the time of delivery. Measles antibody titers in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were 1/512 (hemagglutinin inhibition [HI]) and 1/128 HI, respectively. Immunofixation electrophoresis of CSF reveal...

Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) - due to Lack of Complete Immunization?

The child was admitted in the paediatric department with complaints of fits for one month and altered level of consciousness for two days prior to admission. Mother had also noticed changes in behaviour for one month. He became unusually frightened when he was alone and in a dark room. Fits were not controlled for two days when he came to Abbasi Shaheed hospital and child became drowsy. He was ...

Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis in Iran

[Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis].

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a slowly progressive neurodegenerative disorder occurring in childhood and adolescence and is characterised by dementia, ataxia, myoclonias and other neurological focal signs, with an invariably fatal outcome. The author reviews the subject, focussing on epidemiology, clinical features, measles virus behaviour, host immune reactions, measles prophylaxis an...

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

Introduction Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a rare disease which predominantly affects children of school age. The clinical features include an insidious afebrile onset with behavioural disturbance and progressive dementia sometimes associated with epilepsy. Later akinetic mutism and myoclonic jerks with pyramidal and extrapyramidal signs appear. Finally there is progressive deco...