Abstract
Eleven cases of SSPE from the rural southeast were studied at Duke from 1968-73. Eight patients had a history of measles immunization and 5 of these reportedly had antecedent natural measles. The diagnosis was confirmed in every case either by the ultrastructural demonstration of virus nucleocapsids in brain tissue or the detection of anti-measles antibodies in the CSF.
Six of the patients had normal EEGs when first examined, an average of 6 months after the onset of illness. This group did not differ from those with abnormal EEGs in any important detail including age, sex, measles antibody titer, severity or duration of illness or the length of survival. All of the EEGs eventually became abnormal, 4 with the classical suppression burst pattern considered diagnostic for SSPE. At the time of the normal tracing, one patient had well developed myoclonus.
These findings indicate that a normal EEG is common in SSPE even when the clinical disease is moderately advanced. This re-emphasizes the diagnostic importance cf CSF measles antibodies when other studies are normal.
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Sisk, M., Griffith, J. NORMAL ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAMS IN SUBACUTE SCLEROSING PANENCEPHALITIS (SSPE). Pediatr Res 8, 429 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197404000-00532
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197404000-00532
