CHRONIC ACTIVE DESTRUCTIVE HERPES-SIMPLEX ENCEPHALITIS WITH RECOVERY OF VIRAL-DNA 12 YEARS AFTER DISEASE ONSET

Acute herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) carries significant morbidity and mortality even after early treatment with antiviral agents (7). As well as causing acute neurological disease, Herpes viruses are associ ated with relapsing remitting (Varicella - Zoster, Epstein-Barr) and c hronic (Rasmussen encephalitis) disease processes (1). A two-year-old girl developed acute HSE which was followed by a 10-year neurologic il lness characterised by asymmetric spastic tetraparesis, pseudobulbar p alsy, the opercular syndrome of Foix-Chavany-Marie (4) and seizures. T he neurological signs remained static until the child died suddenly 12 years after disease onset. Neuropathologic examination demonstrated a ctive chronic encephalitis. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA was recover ed from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded brain tissue. This case provi des additional evidence for the development of chronic neurological di sease attributable to persistence of herpes simplex virus type 1.