[Clinical studies on 35 patients with infection-related acute encephalopathy].

The findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomographic scan in 35 children with acute encephalopathy (AE) induced by infections were categorized into five groups: (1) normal findings (11 cases), (2) normal findings in the acute phase followed by mild brain atrophy (1 case), (3) severe brain edema which developed within 48 hours after the onset of AE (7 cases), (4) diffuse cortical necrosis which appeared around 4 days after the onset of AE (9 cases), and (5) symmetric thalamic lesions (7 cases). Their outcomes were as follows: three cases developed epilepsy in (1) and (2); six died and one had a sequel of severe brain damage (SBD) in (3); all cases survived but had SBD in (4), and four died, one had SBD, and 2 recovered in (5). Serum AST were elevated in 7.7 and 6 cases in (3), (4) and (5), respectively. In all of them, there were more than one case having liver histologies consistent with Reye syndrome.