The pathogenesis of the slow virus encephalopathies and multiple sclerosis is reviewed within the framework of the immune response. The diseases are analyzed for the component of the immune response that appears to be crucial to the host's failure to control the disease. Thus, the absence of an immune response in the spongiform encephalopathies appears to reflect a failure of antigen recognitio...

The parieto-occipital region of the brain is the most frequently and severely affected in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). The basal ganglia, cerebellum and corpus callosum are less commonly involved. We describe a patient with SSPE confirmed by neuropathology based on brain magnetic resonance imaging showing extensive basal ganglia involvement and no significant involvement of other...

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a progressive central nervous system disorder affecting both grey and white matter; it affects children and young adults and, with only occasional exceptions, is fatal. Present interest in the illness stems from the observation that the disease is due to a slow virus infection produced by measles or a measles-like virus (Horta-Barbo-a, Fuccillo, and...

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) can show variations in its clinical course. Typical initial symptoms consist of intellectual decline, deterioration in school performance, and myoclonic jerks. Atypical forms of presentation such as generalized seizures and acute or subacute coma can be observed rarely. This report describes a 5-year-old boy with an atypical feature of SSPE, generalize...