Clinical Manifestations and Imaging Features of Brainstem Encephalitis
XU Yi-cheng
CAI Li-na
YANG Lei
WEI Guang-ru
LI Ji-lai
WANG Pei-fu
Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical and neuroimaging features of brainstem encephalitis to avoid the misdiagnosis and mistreatment. Methods Retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 15 cases with brain stem encephalitis was conducted. Results Precursor infection history was reported in 4 cases;mainly in young adults;dizziness and unstable walking instability were common clinical symptoms and bulbar paralysis and hiccup were the relatively specific symptoms. Pons and medulla were the primary lesions. Typical feature was rarely found in cerebrospinal fluid examination, and protein-cell separation phenomenon was found in 3 cases; self-healing occurred in 1 case, the others were given glucocorticoid and ( or) immune globulin and ( or) antiviral therapy. 13 cases turned for the better significantly, and recurrence was reported in 1 case. Conclusion The etiology of brain stem encephalitis is unclear. Diagnosis of brain stem encephalitis should be based on the comprehensive analysis of clinical manifestations, clinical features and auxiliary examination results. Dynamic brain MRI examination is helpful to the diagnosis. The disease responds well to glucocorticoids, gamma globulin and antiviral drugs with favorable prognosis.
Keywords：EncephalitisMagnetic resonance imagingTherapyMisdiagnosis
Publication Date：2015-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 97-100 )