Remitting - Relapsing Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE) : Case Description And Mini Review

Abstract

Spontaneous remission for a substantial period is a rare feature of SSPE. We report a 21 year old boy who was diagnosed to have SSPE at the age of 11 years, based on clinical, CSF and electroencephalographic features. Over a period of one year, he gradually deteriorated to a bedridden state, being dependent for all activities of daily living. He showed a substantial spontaneous remission in clinical and electroencephalographic features and maintained this till 18 years of age. He however slowly deteriorated after prolonged remission over three years. A combination of clinical improvement and disappearance of periodic complexes with normalization of the background activity in the EEG may indicate long-term survival.