Nosocomial/hospital acquired herpes encephalitis is rare and is usually undiagnosed in its early phase because of the non-specific clinical picture and low level of clinical and neuroimaging suspicion. There is a paucity of data in radiology literature for this entity, specifically in the settings of surgery and trauma. We describe two cases of nosocomial herpes simplex encephalitis to demonstrate the imaging clues that might lead to an early diagnosis of this disease.
PlonerMTurowskiBWobkerG. Herpes encephalitis after meningioma resection. Neurology. 2005; 65: 1674–1675.
3.
AldeaSJolyLMRoujeauT. Postoperative herpes simplex virus encephalitis after neurosurgery: case report and review of the literature. Clin Infect Dis.2003; 36: e96–99.
4.
SpulerABlaszykHParisiJE. Herpes simplex encephalitis after brain surgery: case report and review of literature. J Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1999; 67: 239–242.
5.
MelanieL. Herpes simplex virus reactivation and encephalitis after topectomy. J Pediatr Health Care2011; 25: 323–327.
6.
PerryJDGirkinCAMillerNR. Herpes simplex encephalitis and bilateral retinal necrosis syndrome after craniotomy. Am J Ophthalmol. 1998; 126: 456–460.
7.
SimmonsBPGelfandFL. Herpes simplex virus. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 1986; 380–383.
8.
NoguchiTYoshiuraTHiwatashiA. CT and MRI findings of human herpes virus 6-associated encephalopathy: comparison with findings of herpes simplex virus encephalitis. Am J Roentgenol. 2010; 194: 754–760.
9.
KukerWNageleTSchmidtF. Diffusion-weighted MRI in herpes simplex encephalitis: a report of three cases. Neuroradiology. 2004; 46: 122–125.