Brain tumor or infectious disease?

Dra. Marcela Fiol – Montañeses 2325, Cap Federal CP 1428 Buenos Aires Argentina. E-mail address: [email protected] Encephalitis is usually an acute or subacute infectious disease presenting variable symptoms including headache, confusion, seizures and obnubilation, with Herpes simplex virus (HSV) as one of its most frequent etiological agents. Occasionally, clinical presentation may be subtle, chronic and more like a brain tumor, making correct diagnosis difficult and misleading. A few cases have been reported in which brain tumors mimic herpetic encephalitis at onset, however very little information has been published on the opposite situation, namely herpetic encephalitis masquerading as a CNS neoplasm. Although it is important to bear this possibility in mind in patients suffering from an expansive temporal mass and presenting an atypical clinical course, infectious encephalitis is not often considered as a potential diagnosis in patients with typical signs and symptoms of a brain tumor. This case is therefore interesting as it represents an unusual form of herpetic encephalitis (HE).