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Wilson's disease: neurological and magnetic resonance imaging improvement on zinc treatment.

1994; BMJ; Volume: 57; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1136/jnnp.57.10.1273

1468-330X

Jeannine M. Heckmann, Roland Eastman, J. C. De Villiers, R. H. Hewlett,

Pharmacological Effects and Toxicity Studies

Letters to the Editor in several other cases.6It has been suggested that dormant herpes simplex virus in the dorsal root ganglia is reactivated when the patient becomes immunocompromised.48Thus the condition has been described in patients with diabetes mellitus48 as in the present case, the acquired immune deficien- cy syndrome,23 and various malignancies.7It is conceivable that cases of "idiopathic" transverse myelitis are caused by herpes simplex virus and that current tissue culture, electron microscopic, and immunolog- ical techniques, if performed, are unable to detect it.'The advent of the polymerase chain reaction has simplified and speeded up the diagnosis of herpes simplex virus encephalitis in those centres where the tech- nique is available.9-"1The technique should now be extended to those patients with an undiagnosed rapidly progressive cord syn- drome in the hope that early diagnosis and treatment with acyclovir will carry a better prognosis.