The number of children with a new type of influenza-associated encephalopathy is increasing
in Japan on a nationwide scale. It is associated with a high mortality rate of approximately
30% and there are no efficient treatments. Approximately half of the patients have
sequelae despite anti-cytokine therapies. Severe cases showed high levels of free
radicals in serum and cerebrospinal fluid, and previous studies suggest that free-radical
scavengers may be effective to reduce sequelae. We presented two cases where a new
radical scavenger, edaravone, was administered in addition to anti-cytokine therapies
and reviewed our findings in the context of previously published papers.
Keywords
Nitrite - nitrate - encephalopathy - edaravone - free radical scavengers - influenza
