REYES-SYNDROME IN AN ADULT PATIENT A REVI EW OF THE PROPOSED PATHOGENIC MECHANISMS

Reye's syndrome is considered a disease of the pediatric age. It is ch aracterized by a prodrome of viral illness followed by vomiting and en cephalopathy with associated hepatic dysfunction. This syndrome is pot entially life-threatening with high morbidity and mortality rates. The re are 27 other cases of adult onset Reye's syndrome reported in the l iterature. We describe a 18-year-old woman who developed varicella and four days later started with vomiting, delirium and in the following day she became comatose. Laboratory tests of liver function and pathol ogy of a liver biopsy proved the diagnosis. The patient survived. A re view of the proposed pathogenic mechanisms are presented. Our patient represents case the number 28 in world literature and the first in the mexican literature.