All issues > Volume 51(5); 2008

Case Report

Korean J Pediatr. 2008;51(5):533-537. Published online May 15, 2008.

Two cases of central nervous system complications caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

Shin Mi SM Kim¹, Ji Seung JS Heo¹, Eun Jung EJ Shim¹, Dae Hyoung DH Lee¹, Do Jun DJ Cho¹, Dug Ha DH Kim¹, Ki Sik KS Min¹, Ki Yang KY Yoo¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Korea

Correspondence Ki Sik KS Min ,Email: ksmin@hallym.or.kr

Abstract

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) infection causes a wide variety of clinical manifestations in children and young adults, the main one being pneumonia. M. pneumoniae is transmitted from person to person by infected respiratory droplets. Symptoms caused by M. pneumoniae infection can be divided into those involving the respiratory tract, and those caused by extrapulmonary disease. M. pneumoniae infections may cause central nervous system (CNS) complications춛ith encephalitis being the most frequent춁nd stroke being a rare complication. The pathogenesis of the CNS disease is unclear; possibilities include direct infection and an immune-mediated reaction. We present two cases of CNS complications subsequent to infection with M. pneumoniae; both cases had convincing evidence of preceding M. pneumoniae respiratory disease with no evidence of viable M. pneumoniae in the cerebrospinal fluid. We report cases of encephalitis and stroke following a recent M. pneumoniae infection.

Keywords :Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Central nervous system, Encephalitis, Stroke