A Rare Case of Adult Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis Associated with Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection

Deeba Ali; Benoît Cardos; Yilmaz Gorur; Noel Lorenzo Villalba; Nathalie Janssen; Carmen Bartha; Phillippe Desfontaines; Joseph Weerts; Pascal Fajardo

doi:10.12890/2019_001094

A Rare Case of Adult Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis Associated with Primary Epstein-Barr Virus Infection

Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. 2019 Apr 15;6(4):001094. doi: 10.12890/2019_001094. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Deeba Ali¹, Benoît Cardos², Yilmaz Gorur³, Noel Lorenzo Villalba⁴, Nathalie Janssen¹, Carmen Bartha¹, Phillippe Desfontaines⁵, Joseph Weerts¹, Pascal Fajardo¹

Affiliations

¹ Service des Urgences, CHC Saint-Joseph, Liége, Belgium.
² Département des Sciences de la Santé Publique, Université de Liège, Liége, Belgium.
³ Service de Radiologie, CHU Sart Tilmant, Liège, Belgium.
⁴ Service de Médecine Interne et Cancérologie, Centre Hospitalier Saint Cyr, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France.
⁵ Service de Neurologie, Centre Hospitalier Chrétien, Liège, Belgium.

Abstract

We report a rare case of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) secondary to a primary Epstein-Barr (EBV) infection, in a 22-year-old male. Symptomatic infectious mononucleosis and ADEM are both quite uncommon conditions in this age group.

Learning points: ADEM is a very rare CNS disorder; it is more common in childhood but can also be described in adults.The clinical evaluation must focus on the presence of recent signs of infection or vaccination.A normal cerebral scan does not rule out the disease and MRI must be performed to confirm the diagnoses.

Keywords: Encephalomyelitis; Epstein-Barr virus; corticosteroids; demyelinating.