Difficulty in Distinguishing Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome, Hypoxic–Ischemic Insult, and Acute Toxic Leukoencephalopathy in Children

Abstract

Aim This study aims to describe our experience of unique pediatric neurological cases and associated difficulty in differentiating posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) from hypoxic–ischemic insult (HII), and acute toxic leukoencephalopathy (ATL).

Methods The study included three children with a clinical picture suggestive of PRES, HII, and ATL of different etiologies who were diagnosed and treated at a tertiary pediatric medical center in 2011 to 2014.

Results All patients presented with blindness following seizures with asphyxia/aspiration in a syndromatic child, too-rapid lipid infusion in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and repeated vomiting in a child with cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, and malfunction of ventriculoperitoneal shunt. All patients had cortical blindness and high-signal foci in the cortical and subcortical regions on magnetic resonance imaging. All children improved.

Conclusions Familiarity with the clinical and radiological characteristics of neurological conditions leading to reversible cortical blindness is essential for diagnosis and management. Distinguishing PRES from HII and ATL can be challenging. Our cases most likely combined these etiologies, with the first patient diagnosed with PRES with HII, the second with PRES with ATL, and the third with focal HII. Given the diversity of the findings and the unclear prognostic significance, studies of the pathophysiology of PRES are warranted.

Keywords

posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome - hypoxic–ischemic insult - acute toxic leukoencephalopathy - pediatric visual loss - reversible blindness

Note

The study was partially presented at: the 39th Annual NANOS Meeting; 2013; Snowbird, Utah, United States and Israel ophthalmology Society (ILOS); 2015; Tel Aviv, Israel.

^* The authors Judith Luckman and Alon Zahavi contributed equally to the work.

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