Abstract
We report a case of cerebellar and brainstem encephalitis caused by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The patient was a 25-year-old woman who had been treated for idiopathic thrombocytopenia with steroids for 20 years. She suffered from infections mononucleosis complicated by encephalitis in the crebellum and brainstem. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method revealed EBV DNA in a biopsy sample of the lesions in her cerebellum. A clinical summary of 25 cases of EBV encephalitis reported that systemic infection with EBV, and immunodeficiency, may be related to EBV encephalitis in the first or second decades. For diagnosis a check of the virus titer in serum or cerebrospinal fluid has been reported as useful. We suggest the PCR method is more conventional and useful for diagnosis.
