ABSTRACT
A 51-year-old man developed coma, bilateral pupillary dilation, ophthalmoplegia and quadriplegia 4 weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. MRI demonstrated a symmetric midline pontine non-enhancing T2-FLAIR hyperintense lesion. The patient was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone, which resulted in improvement of his Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) from 3 to 15 over the next 5 days. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a post-infectious steroid-responsive brainstem lesion associated with COVID-19. The clinical picture best fits in the family of a steroid-responsive encephalopathy and reminds us that COVID-19 may cause severe post-infectious neurological complications.
ABSTRACT
Although herpes simplex encephalitis is not classically considered an opportunistic infection, reactivation of herpes simplex is being seen increasingly in patients with cancer or immunosuppression. The authors present a patient with malignant glioma and HSV-1 encephalitis whose PCR-proven encephalitis recurred after temozolomide (TMZ) chemoradiation despite acyclovir therapy, and summarize details of four other cases of HSV-1 encephalitis associated with TMZ. The similarity among these cases raises the likely need for longer treatment courses and/or oral suppressive therapy in patients at risk for herpes simplex infections who are receiving TMZ.
