Acute encephalopathy occasionally complicates the clinical course of varicella. It is characterized by depression in the level of consciousness, seizures, and frequently by ataxia. This complication, although usually mild and without residuum, occasionally assumes serious or even fatal proportions. In 1955 Lander1 published a clinicopathological study of an adult with acute hemorr h a g i c leukoencephalitis complicating varicella, a condition not previously recorded.
The patient described in the present report survived her illness, and, for this reason, no final conclusions can be reached.
Report of Case
Case 1.—This 19-month-old white girl, born Sept. 6, 1958, was admitted to the hospital on April 10, 1960, after having had a major seizure. Six days before admission to the hospital she developed a "chickenpox" rash but was only moderately ill. Three days prior to admission, she was seen by a pediatrician because of some "bruises" on her trunk and extremities, and