Two cases of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis associated with brainstem involvement.

The most commonly involved areas in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) are periventricular and subcortical white matter. The basal ganglia, cerebellum, spinal cord and corpus callosum are less commonly involved. Brainstem involvement is rare and usually accompanied by other intracranial lesions. In this article, we report two cases of SSPE associated with brainstem involvement. The first case a 9-year-old girl had the typical symptom of SSPE. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed a focal lesion 2 x 2.5 cm a diameter in the pons. The second case was a 6-year-old girl. On admission, MRI of the brain was normal. During 6th month of follow-up, T2-weighted MRI showed a hyperintense lesion in the pons and pedincule of cerebellum. On account of these cases we would like to stress that brainstem involvement may be seen in patients with SSPE; therefore, these patients should be monitored for this disorder.