Magnetic resonance imaging of brain lesions of a patient with hemolytic uremic syndrome following Escherichia coli O157 infection

Verotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli O157 (VTEC) infection has been sh own to be associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)(1) and the centra l nervous system (CNS) manifestations of HUS are considered to be important predictive factors of HUS mortality in children.(2) In the summer of 1996, more than 6000 children in Sakai City, Osaka, Japan, became ill with VTEC and several of them showed CNS symptoms associated wi th HUS. The etiology of CNS abnormalities observed in HUS remains to be det ermined. The purpose of the present article is to describe the treatment of a female patient during the above outbreak and to attempt to clarify the p athogenesis of CNS manifestations with HUS based on magnetic resonance imag ing (MRI) findings.