RESUMEN
We describe a 13-month-old girl who developed convulsive status during an episode of rotavirus gastroenteritis. Persistent disturbance of consciousness, recurrent seizures, slowing on EEG, high signal areas on diffusion-weighted MRI, and normal cerebrospinal fl uid confi rmed the diagnosis of encephalopathy. In addition, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenias, and a histopathological fi nding of hemophagocytosis in bone marrow were all observed in this case, and these three conditions together meet the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. The patient improved after commencement of steroid pulse therapy. This case suggests that the pathogenesis of rotavirus-associated encephalopathy may share some basic pathophysiologic mechanisms with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.