Acute Rhombencephalitis: Neuroimaging Evidence

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 39; no. 6; pp. 486 - 489
• Main Authors: SUGIYAMA, Yasuji, HONMA, Mari, YAMAMOTO, Teiji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 2000; Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
• Subjects: acute cerebellitis; Acute Disease; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; brainstem; coma; Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes; Encephalitis - pathology; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical sciences; MRI; Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes); Neurology; Rhombencephalon - pathology; Cerebellum; Human; Nervous system diseases; Pathogenesis; Acute; Exploration; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Cerebral disorder; Case study; Cerebellar disease; Central nervous system disease; Medical imagery; Ataxia; Neurological disorder
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.39.486

Following a high fever, a healthy woman became comatose within a few days. Severe cerebellar symptoms appeared when she regained consciousness. The brain MRIs revealed abnormal signal intensity of the cerebellar cortex and brainstem gray matter, however, no abnormalities were revealed in the cerebral hemispheres. Acute inflammation due to direct viral or autoimmune involvement of the cerebellar and brainstem gray matter was a likely explanation and thus acute cerebellitis may in fact be a rhombencephalitis. Among the previous reports of acute cerebellar ataxia, this is perhaps one of the most profoundly affected cases and appears important for the understanding of the target of this particular form of encephalitis. (Internal Medicine 39: 486-489, 2000)