Hi, this is Tom, and in this episode, I'm going to be going to be going through encephalitis,

and you can find notes at 0.0.5.com and in the 0 to Finals Pediatrics book,

and you can find flashcards and questions at members.0.0 tofinals.com.

So let's jump straight in. Encaphalitis involves inflammation of the brain.

Key causes are infections, usually with viruses, and autoimmune disease.

A common and important treatable cause of encaphalitis is the herpes

sylplex virus, or HSV. This may be herpesy simplex virus type 1, or HSV1, typically affecting older

children and adults, and HSV1 is often associated with cold sores,

or herpes simplex virus type 2, or HSV-2, typically in neonates, contracted at birth, from maternal genital herpes.

Other viral causes include the varicaller zoster virus, or VZV, associated with chickenpox,

enterovirus, cytomegalovirus, particularly associated with immunodeficiency,

the Epstein-Barr virus, which is associated with infectious mononucleosis,

the influenza virus, and measles, mumps or rebella.

Let's talk about the presentation.

Presenting features of encephalitis include a headache, altered consciousness, altered cognition,

unusual behaviour, focal neurological symptoms and signs, seizures and fever.

Let's talk about making the diagnosis.

Key diagnostic tests for encaphalitis include a lumber puncture

sending the cerebrospinal fluid for viral PCR testing,

including HSV, VZV and Enterovirus,

an MRI brain scan, and EEG in mild or ambiguous symptoms,

but this is not always routinely required. Swabs can be helpful in establishing the causative

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