FULMINANT DEMYELINATING ENCEPHALOMYELITIS ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCTIVE HHV-6 INFECTION IN AN IMMUNOCOMPETENT ADULT

Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), the etiologic agent of roseola in young c hildren, has been reported to be detectable in the brain of many neuro logically normal adults, although regional localization to plaques of multiple sclerosis has also been demonstrated. Large amounts of this v irus were present in multifocal demyelinating white matter lesions of fulminant encephalomyelitis with seizures in a 21-year-old woman with normal immune parameters. Brain biopsy after 3 weeks of neurologic det erioration revealed a viral etiology by light and electron microscopy; the virus was identified as HHV-6 by immunohistochemistry and by poly merase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in biopsy and autopsy specim ens. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.