Abstract
We report a case of a 50-year-old immunocompromised woman who presented with acute encephalopathy and gait ataxia due to severe West Nile virus encephalomyelitis. The patient remarkably improved following early and sustained aggressive immunomodulation. Diagnosing West Nile neuroinvasive disease could be challenging without biochemical evidence of West Nile virus nucleic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid, a specific but not sensitive test. Although the neuroimaging findings in our patient could be considered “typical” for West Nile neuroinvasive disease, there is an overlap with the imaging abnormalities seen in other neuroinflammatory disorders presenting with acute leukoencephalopathy. Hence, we review West Nile neuroinvasive disease imaging characteristics and the differential diagnosis of acute leukoencephalopathy.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 4499-4506 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Radiology Case Reports |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2023 |
Keywords
- Acute leukoencephalopathy
- Encephalomyelitis
- Neuroimaging
- West Nile virus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging