Acute disseminated encephalitis documented by magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. Report of a case.

A 16-year-old girl developed left hemispheric deficits, which were followed by clouding of consciousness, quadriplegia, and subcortical blindness. Although we could not demonstrate a recent viral infection, the clinical features, laboratory and radiologic findings strongly suggested the diagnosis acute disseminated encephalitis. Cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities incompletely correlated with the clinical course. In contrast, X-ray computed tomography and particularly magnetic resonance imaging of the head closely reflected disease and improvement.