Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Cocuk Enfeksiyon Dergisi, cilt.3, sa.4, ss.168-173, 2009 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: To determine the etiology, clinical presentation and prognosis of the patients with encephalitis in the last nine years. Methods: Data from patients with encephalitis treated between 2000 and 2008 were examined retrospectively. Results: Twenty seven patients were diagnosed as encephalitis. The median age of the patients was 90 months (5 months-15 years) and male/female ratio was 2/1. The most common symptoms on admission were fever (85%), alterations in consciousness (77%), convulsion (59%), headache (59%), and vomiting (52%). In 17 (63%) patients, the etiological agents were determined, which were mumps virus (4 patients), rubella virus (4 patients), Epstein-Barr virus (3 patients), herpes simplex virus type 1 (2 patients), cytomegalovirus (1 patient), measles virus (1 patient), varicella-zoster virus (1 patient) and enterovirus (1 patient). In 10 patients, the etiological agents could not be found. In five patients, permanent sequelae developed. One patient died. Conclusion: The spectrum of the etiological agents of encephalitis is vast. These agents can change with time according to epidemiological features and vaccination programs. The agents could not be detected in the majority of the cases. In our country, the morbidity and the mortality will decrease as the possibilities for detection of etiological agents and administration of appropriate treatment and the proportion of the patients vaccinated with measlesmumps-rubella and chickenpox vaccines increases.