Fulminant form of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis: successful treatment with hypothermia

We described herein a case of the fulminant form of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) that developed after mycoplasma pneumonia. A 28-year-old man who presented, with fever, headache, and writing difficulty was admitted to our hospital in August 1997. He developed hernia on the 3rd hospital day. Surgical decompression and intravenous prednisolone failed to halt his progressive deterioration. We introduced systemic hypothermia and he has shown marked recovery; despite having Broca's type aphasia, he could comprehend spoken language and communicate with others by gesture. Head MRI demonstrated diffuse high signals over the white matter on fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images, which suggested extensive demyelination. The clinical course, imaging studies and presence of polymorphonuclear dominant leucocytosis in the blood and CSF in the patient are somewhat similar to findings in acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis, however, the result of a brain biopsy was inconclusive. The fulminant form of ADEM is usually fatal. Treatments such as corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, and surgical decompression have been performed to improve the prognosis. Our case results indicate that hypothermia, which suppresses both brain edema and immune response, may be included in the repertoire of treatment for the fulminant form of ADEM. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.