A 4-year-old girl with status epilepticus and severe encephalopathy as
sociated with cat-scratch disease is described. She had prolonged seiz
ures lasting more than 2 weeks and required treatment with pentobarbit
al coma. She developed unusual abnormalities on magnetic resonance ima
ging scans that involved the thalami and the cortex of the temporal, p
arietal, and occipital lobes. She has developed a persistent encephalo
pathy manifesting as visual disturbance and frequent partial seizures.