Neonatal polycystic encephalomalacia: four new cases and review of the literature.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Four patients with pathologically documented polycystic cavitation of the brain had an acute illness characterized by stupor, seizures, CSF erythrocytic and monocytic pleocytosis, increased CSF protein and diminished CSF glucose. The acute phase was followed by chronic decerebration, disappearance of the CSF abnormalities and radiological evidence of polycystic cavitation of the brain. In 1 patient, herpes simplex was isolated from a cutaneous vesicle. The CSF abnormalities in the disorder received scant attention and were not previously correlated with the acute and chronic stages. Clearly some cases are associated with herpes simplex virus. The clinical profile should now be sufficiently distinctive to permit future identification of etiology in more neonates.