Neurological complications associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. A case report.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is a frequent cause of respiratory tract infection. Extra-pulmonary manifestations may be neurological with variable expression, encephalitis being the most frequent. Meningitis, myelitis or polyradiculoneuritis are also reported. The pathophysiology of neurological manifestations remains poorly understood. Although not isolated from cerebral tissue, MP was reportedly detected in cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) on several occasions. We report the case of a five-year-old girl who presented with fever, then pneumonia, and later developed spastic quadriparesis. MP was identified as the causative agent, evidenced by the presence of specific antibodies in both serum and CSF. The identification of a central nervous syndrome associated with confirmed MP infection extends the list of similar cases documented in individuals younger than 17 years of age.