انسفالیت Bickerstaff: گزارش موردی

Background: Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis (BBE) is a very uncommon central nervous system disease with unknown etiology. As it is usually responsive to treatment, the diagnosis this disease is important. It seems There is no reported Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis case in Iran.Case presentation: An 83 year old woman presented with vertigo, ataxia and dysarthria from a week prior to admission. Her T2 weighted MRI revealed high intensity lesions in the pons area. She received treatment with impression of ischemic stroke. After few days, lower extremities became weak symmetrically and deep tendon reflexes depressed. Deep sensory loss was noted too. The EMG-NCV studies showed acute polyneuropathy and in CSF examination increased protein content was noted. The patient improved after IVIG and corticosteroid therapy with impression of Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis.Conclusion: In spite of severe initial presentation, Bickerstaff's brainstem encephalitis has a good prognosis if it diagnosed and treated properly. Although clinical features is too important, but paraclinical work up are necessary to diagnose this syndrome.