Good cognitive outcome of patients with herpes zoster encephalitis: a follow-up study

Varicella-zoster virus CNS disease—Viral load, clinical manifestations and sequels

“…Both of these patients were among the 28 in the encephalitis group, revealing a mortality rate as high as 9%, and 8, nearly one third of the patients with encephalitis (1 with primary disease) suffered from neurological complications after 3 months or had died, confirming the severity of VZV encephalitis. [16][17][18] Our study confirms that many patients who present with serious neurological complications do not show skin manifestations. [3][4][5] In addition, some patients had outbreaks of blisters after neurological symptoms developed.…”

Varicella-zoster virus infections of the central nervous system – Prognosis, diagnostics and treatment

“…In surviving patients with herpes zoster-associated encephalitis, residual neurological sequelae range from mild to severe. [34,35,7,36,5,37,38]. Two large recent follow-up studies of patients with encephalitis with various causal agents in France (n=176) and England (n=203) [6,7] showed a similar outcome for patients with herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) and those with encephalitis caused by VZV based on the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).…”

“…Yet, in another study of eight patients the neuropsychological sequelae were only very minor [38]. In untreated patients with herpes zoster-associated encephalitis persisting neuropsychological deficits have been shown up to 10 years [36].…”

Neuropsychological sequelae of acute-onset sporadic viral encephalitis

“…Common features in several patients were slowness of thought and disinhibited behaviour (impulsivity, impaired planning, and talkativeness) during the test performance, and the neuropsychological findings led the authors to suggest subcortical dysfunction . The other study included a longer follow-up period (up to 4 years) and found less evidence of neuropsychological sequelae, the only abnormal finding compared to the control group in Rey-Osterriech Complex Figure Test (Wetzel et al, 2002).…”

“…Mood changes, such as emotional lability, euphoria and depression were also observed in one of the newer series where patients were assessed within the first 3 months after onset but not in the other where patients were assessed within 1-4 years after onset (Wetzel et al, 2002).…”